Bede Wind

Tickets have just gone on sale online for our annual Christmas concert.

‘Spirit of Christmas’, billed as the concert with the most Christmas tunes, is being held at Trinity Church, Gosforth, on Saturday December 16 at 7pm and will feature Bede Wind and Bede Chorus.

The Conductor is as always Ernest Young and the Accompanist is Peter Waugh. Admission cost is £8 (adults) and £4 (children).

You can purchase your ticket online here or from Bede Wind or Bede Chorus members, or pay at the door on the night.

Bede Chorus with Bede Wind at a concert at King’s Hall, Newcastle

By Ernest Young, Conductor

Choristers will be singing in celebration as they mark the 30^th anniversary of Bede Chorus at a special concert being held this September.

The chorus was formed in 1993 with the intention of sharing concerts with Bede Wind, also based in Jarrow and launched four years earlier.

In its early years the choir toured home and abroad and in 1995 joined the band for four concerts in America – in Boston, New York, Washington and Virginia.

The memorable tour saw Bede Chorus hold its first rehearsal on the roof of Boston University at 8am due to high humidity and sing beside the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, New York, in extreme heat.

Closer to home the choir also performed at the Wallington Prom for more than ten years with Valerie Reid and Graeme Danby, and this year will be the eighth year of the Daft as a Brush Prom at O2 City Hall Newcastle.

The choir originally rehearsed at Springfield School before moving to Monkton Methodist Church. During its three decades Bede Chorus has built-up a library of music of Northumbria, recorded as ‘North Countrie Music’.  

Due to falling numbers following the Covid pandemic it was decided in March this year to move the choir to Gosforth, a move which has led to membership doubling. The singers now meet on alternate Tuesday evenings in the Tyne Hall at Trinity Church, Gosforth, at 7.15pm and are very fortunate to have the services of Peter Waugh as accompanist.

The anniversary concert – the first for the expanded choir – is being held at Trinity Church on Saturday September 23 at 7pm. It also features special guests Jessica Yang (violin) and Asa Lam (cello) – both church members – and Bede Wind flautist Sarah Peterson, who got married at the weekend!

Admission is by ticket and we anticipate a good attendance, so please do not wait too long to buy one. Tickets are on sale from the church office, Ray Mackintosh and choir members.  

On Friday October 6 at 7.30pm Bede Chorus will be performing with Bede Wind for the 24^th year in the Whitburn Prom at Whitburn Parish Church, South Tyneside, where we have always enjoyed great support.

Following Whitburn, the choir will again take part in the Daft as a Brush Proms at O2 City Hall Newcastle on Saturday October 21 at 7pm with Bede Wind. Guest artistes will be Leader Emeritus of the Royal Northern Sinfonia Bradley Creswick, opera stars Charlotte Potter from Teesside and Patrick Owston from London, and the Newcastle Dance School.

Once again the compere will be Ray Spencer, Executive Director of the Customs House Theatre, South Shields, and tickets are available from Daft as a Brush or the O2 City Hall.

The band and choir’s final joint event of the year will be our Christmas Concert at Trinity Church, Gosforth, on Saturday December 16 at 7pm and the following evening (17th) Bede Chorus will be assisting in the Carol Service at Trinity.

I look forward to seeing you at our concerts this year.

We start this year’s programme with a concert at Trinity Church, Gosforth, at 7pm on Friday February 17 to raise funds for the church.

Conductor Ernest Young will direct a light programme and guest soloist is Jessica Yang (violin). Tickets costing £6 can be purchased from the church or you can pay on the door.

We return to Trinity Church on Saturday April 1 for an afternoon of singing for choirs, starting at 2pm (£4 for choir members), followed by a concert at 6.30pm (admission £6). More information from anne.wilson@daftasabrush.org.uk.

On Sunday May 21 the band is travelling to the Scottish Borders to help parishioners at Kelso Old Parish Church celebrate its 250th anniversary, with a concert starting at 3pm.

Kelso Old Parish Church

We’ll be praying for good weather when we play outdoors at South Shields Amphitheatre at 2pm on Sunday June 25.

And we are finalising arrangements for a planned tour of the Netherlands in late July, our first European tour for a number of years.

The Eastern Gate Oostport and canal in Delft

On to the autumn and our 25th Prom at Whitburn Parish Church on Friday October 6 at 7.30pm, before another hugely popular annual fixture – the Daft as a Brush Proms at the O2 Newcastle City Hall at 7pm on Saturday October 21.

We end the year where we start it – at Trinity Church, Gosforth, on Saturday December 16 for our annual Christmas concert.

So, plenty of variety in venues and programmes for 2023 – we hope to see you this year! Details of online ticket sales will follow. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to hear.

Tickets have just gone on sale online for our annual Christmas concert.

‘Spirit of Christmas’, billed as the concert with the most Christmas tunes, is being held at Trinity Church, Gosforth, on Saturday December 17 at 7pm and will feature Bede Wind and Bede Chorus.

The Conductor is as always Ernest Young and the Accompanist is Peter Waugh. Admission cost is £8 (adults) and £4 (children).

You can purchase your ticket online here or pay at the door on the night.

Our autumn programme launches next weekend with our 24th Whitburn Prom at Whitburn Parish Church in South Tyneside.

We are returning for this popular annual fixture on Friday September 30, starting at 7.30pm, when Bede Wind will perform with Bede Chorus, with accompanist Peter Waugh.

Tickets costing £8 (£4 for under-12s) include a glass of wine or soft drink and can be purchased from church members and John Shield (call 0191 529 3935 or 07544 908838).

On Saturday October 15 at 7pm we have our 7th Last Night of the Proms concert with Daft as a Brush Cancer Patient Care at Newcastle O2 City Hall. All proceeds go towards the charity’s 100th ambulance appeal. Buy your ticket here: https://www.daftasabrush.org.uk/

See a film about the Proms here: https://vimeo.com/649553098

We then have back-to-back Christmas concerts, returning to Whitburn Parish Church on Friday December 16 before performing at Trinity Church in Gosforth on Saturday December 17.

We will soon be releasing tickets for sale online – keep an eye on our Facebook page!

Bede Wind is performing on Sunday June 19 from 2pm to 4pm at South Shields Amphitheatre for the This is South Tyneside Festival.

Bands are performing every Sunday afternoon throughout the summer from June 5 to August 28 at ‘Brass Bands at the Amphitheatre’ as part of the huge festival programme.

We will have an entertaining programme with a host of traditional favourite tunes for you to enjoy with an ice cream from Minchella’s and (hopefully) a bit of seaside sunshine.

Headline acts at the nearby Bents Park open air gigs include Will Young, Shalamar and 2012 X Factor finalist Ella Henderson. A new addition to this year’s concert offering is Dance Revival, featuring Whigfield, Sonique, D:Ream, Phats & Small and Kelly Llorenna.

After two years missing due to Covid, the Summer Parade will return on Saturday July 2, where the local community will line the streets of South Shields to take part in the colourful carnival.

Other events include Proms in the Park on Sunday July 3, Kids Fun Fest on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in August and performances at the open-air amphitheatre at Sandhaven Beach on Thursday and Sunday evenings in June.

For full summer festival information visit: https://www.southtynesidefestival.co.uk/

Tickets have just gone on sale for our concert at Sage Gateshead on Sunday April 10, starting at 3pm. We will be joined in Hall Two by soprano Bibi Heal in a programme featuring Strauss, Bernstein, Piazzolla and Shostakovitch, together with specially commissioned “The River” and ‘North Countrie’ songs. We hope to see you there! Tickets costing from £11 to £16.50 can be purchased from the Sage Gateshead website here:

https://sagegateshead.com/whats-on/bede-wind-concert/

After a hugely disrupted two years Bede Wind is delighted to announce a busy programme of concerts for 2022.

We start on Sunday April 10th with a return to Hall 2 at Sage Gateshead (we were the first wind band ever to perform at The Sage back in 2005 just a few months after the venue opened!) Tickets for the concert, which starts at 3pm and features guest soloist Soprano Bibi Heal, are due to go on sale soon on the Sage Gateshead website.

Bede Wind has also been asked to take part in the South Tyneside summer festival, and will be playing at South Shields Amphitheatre on Sunday June 19th.

In the autumn we take part in the first of two concerts this year at Whitburn Parish Church, the first being the ever popular Proms on Friday September 30th.

Two weeks later we join Daft as a Brush Cancer Patient Care for an exceptional evening of music, song, choir, dance, soloists, fun and much more at the ‘Last Night of the Proms’ concert at Newcastle O2 City Hall on Saturday October 15th.

Our year ends with a very busy weekend. We return to Whitburn Parish Church on Friday December 15th for a Christmas concert, and the following evening we will bring seasonal tunes to Trinity Church in Gosforth.

We will publicise online ticket sales nearer each event and hope to see you soon!

Join Daft as a Brush Cancer Patient Care for an exceptional evening of music, song, choir, dance, soloists, fun and much more at our ‘Last Night of the Proms’ concert at Newcastle O2 City Hall on Saturday 15^th October 2022.

Bigger and better for 2022, Daft as a Brush are proud and delighted to announce an enhanced show at Newcastle O2 City Hall this autumn.

The concert, led by Musical Director Ernest Young, promises another exciting and entertaining evening with music performed by Bede Wind and Bede Chorus together special guests…and a few surprises!

Every ticket sale supports the ‘Daft as a Brush’ Charity and includes a FREE event programme and flag.

Discover more and watch the video trailer at: https://www.daftasabrush.org.uk/event/last-night-of-the-proms

Doors 6pm, showtime 7pm.

Tickets are available from Daft as a Brush in Gosforth by emailing info@daftasabrush.org.uk or calling (0191) 28 55 999.