The City of Chester Band is delighted to announce that Ewan Easton, Principal Tuba with the Hallé Orchestra, has agreed to work with the Band as Musical Director.Ewan Easton studied at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) before spending 19 years with the Ulster Orchestra.Ewan currently teaches at the RNCM where he is Tutor in Tuba.He also works as a conductor, arranger and adjudicator.Having taught at all levels of education, Ewan has organised performance workshops and masterclasses throughout Britain and Ireland.
Since 2004 Ewan has led a project, Hallé4Brass, in which musicians from the Orchestra offer young people in the last two years of their sentence at Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institute the opportunity to learn to read and play music.This pioneering project has led to a number of awards and honours being bestowed upon Ewan for his skills in education, notably his inclusion in the 2010 New Year’s Honours list as a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
In his younger days Ewan played at the highest level in British brass bands, as a member of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band but it’s working with community-based bands, where the emphasis is on commitment as much as technical prowess, that Ewan gets most satisfaction.Whilst working in N. Ireland Ewan joined a band comprising just 18 players.Within 4 years membership had increased to 75 playing in different ensembles serving age and ability.Ewan looks forward to working with the City of Chester Training Band in encouraging people of all ages to play a brass instrument.
Ewan Easton is currently preparing the City of Chester main band to play in the second section of the NW Regional Qualifying Championships to be held in The Winter Gardens, Blackpool on Sunday 28 February.Work commitments in the week leading up to the contest may preclude Ewan from wielding the baton in Blackpool but, regardless of who takes the Band on the day, band members are determined to play with Ewan’s directions and advice fully in their thoughts.All will want to build upon the prize-winning performance given last November in Rochdale under the baton of their former musical director, Josh Hughes.On Saturday 20 February the City of Chester Band has been invited to play in Crewe at the Manchester Metropolitan University in a concert in which all the test-pieces to be played in the five sections (Championship, First, Second, Third and Fourth) at Blackpool will be heard with open adjudication.The event starts at 7 pm and is open to all.
Anyone who fancies learning to play a brass instrument should contact Tony Blain on 07913109951.More experienced players should contact Kate Harland: [email protected].