9 March 2022

All-women brass band to send “loud and clear” message about Violence Against Women and Girls

All-women brass band to send “loud and clear” message about Violence Against Women and Girls
Femmes Fortissimo performance to raise funds for York-based charity, Survive

A 50-piece brass band of women players will celebrate female empowerment in an entertaining concert of pieces with a message about ending violence towards women and girls.

Femmes Fortissimo, made up of female-identifying and non-binary brass and percussion players from brass bands across Yorkshire, will be performing as part of the programme for York International Women’s Week 2022.

The concert, on 2 April, will feature guest soloist Siobhan Bates, tenor horn star with the world-famous Black Dyke Band, fresh from their triumph as winners of the Yorkshire regional brass band championships. Geneva Performing Artist Siobhan, 23, will perform original pieces by composers Paul Lovatt-Cooper and Andy Wareham – the latter a world premiere – as well as a tenor horn feature with the band.

Two other young talented players from the region, teenagers Emerson Hampshire, 17 (Shepherd Group Concert Brass Band, Kirkbymoorside Town Brass Band, and Yorkshire Youth Brass Band) and Imogen Fewster, 17 (Shepherd Group Brass Band and Youth Band), who have both won places at the prestigious National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, will also be performing solos.

The event will also notch up a world premiere from the pen of euphonium player Tracey McGuire, written in response to the murder of Sarah Everard who grew up in York and attended Fulford School.  Tracey, a co-organiser of Femmes Fortissimo, wrote a poem about how women feel walking home alone, on which her piece, A New Anthem, is based.

Profits from the Femmes Fortissimo concert will go to local charity Survive, which offers specialist counselling and support work to all adults across North Yorkshire who have experienced sexual trauma.

CEO of Survive, Mags Godderidge, said: “We launched our £50k Covid-19 Recovery Appeal in May last year – to meet the increase in demand for our specialist services. Money raised through this event will help us get nearer to reaching that fundraising target.  We are so grateful to Femmes Fortissimo for supporting us in this way”.
Femmes Fortissimo: Loud and Clear, is on Saturday 2 April at 7.30pm at Acomb Parish Church Hall, Front Street, Acomb, York. Free car parking is available close by next to Morrisons supermarket. There are limited disabled parking spaces outside the venue.
Tickets cost £10 (£5 under 16s) and are available from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/femmes-fortissimo

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