España 2026
The biennial Summer Music Course to Spain
The Concert band and Senior String Ensemble travelled to central Spain in August, giving three concerts in fantastic venues and receiving rapturous reception from the audiences.
Staying in the 4* Hotel Doña Brígida on the outskirts of Salamanca, known as the "Golden City", the group gave three outstanding performances in amazing venues. It was the perfect base to explore this area of the “Real” Spain, steeped in history and tradition.
Out and about in the "real" España
As well as the concerts they had a day-trip to Segovia, including the famous castle which inspired the Disneyland castle and they saw the magnificent Roman viaduct. They also had a walking tour of the university of Salamanca, one of the oldest universities in Europe.
Standing ovations
The course will started with two days of rehearsals during the week preceding at the Victoria Hall in Glossop before setting off by coach to Spain where they stayed at the Hotel Doña Brigida in the rural outskirts of Salamanca.
A short rehearsal in the hotel and the group was ready to hit the road with three concerts in very different venues. The first was in the San Pedro Cultural Centre. Built from the ruins of the 16th century Romanesque church of San Pedro, it is now a centre for cultural and scientific conferences. The ceiling is painted with a night sky giving the impression that it is open air.
The second concert was in the heart of the city of Salamanca in a Palace just off the Plaza Majore. This was a more formal audience and we performed some of the more substantial works here, including the new 25th Anniversary commission "Dances at Melandra".
The final concert was in a small town called Tiedra which is famous for it's castle as well as being a centre for astronomy. This was the only open-air concert, and a slightly breezy one at that! Some new skills had to be learnt, such as keeping music on the stands with pegs (and only taking out one piece from the folders at a time!). In many ways this was the most atmospheric of the concerts. By the time the performance started the empty town square was thronging with people who apperaedas if from nowhere. as the light dimmed we played in the warm glow of the street lights against the back-drop of the town hall and with the audinece joining in the spirit of the occassion with clapping and cheers.
....and as always seems to happen our players made friends along the way with local youngsters who had come to see the concert.
Down-time
As well as concerts and sight seeing there was plenty of time to enjoy chilling in the pool and playing games in the hotel lobby.
And as has become tradition on all our tours, the epic Tour Olympics organised by Ed and Will were a spectacle of gladiatorial excitement and extreme sports, this year featuring the new Olympic sport of dualling with water pistols and badminton.
Well we had one too many percussionists anyway!
The Official Photographs
Our official tour photographer was Ed, who produced a great video and photo chronicle of the tour, all of which will be available soon.
Ed also set up a communal photo gallery where anyone could upload their memories of the tour.
Some of the group photos taken at Tiedra:
The tour was made possible by a superb team of "Wombles" (the pastoral staff who looked after the children throughout) and by our support van drivers Tina and Warren. We were ably guided at every step by our Courier Kate who ensured that everything ran to time and without problems.
We left our second trip to Spain glowing with the warmth of the sun, the applause from three wonderful concerts ringing in our ears, the sights, sounds and tastes of this culturally rich country and happy memories of friendships which will stay with us always.