A CONCERT of pomp and circumstance with a touch of the last night of the proms will become an act of commemoration this year as elite soldiers recall their fallen comrades.
The Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas, accompanied by the celebrated Northern Voices Choir,
will raise the roof with an extra special performance for those who fell in service of the King.
Staged within a week of the 100thanniversary of the end of the War to End all Wars, the popular annual fundraiser will once again support the work of the Gurkha Welfare Trust.
Concert-goers from across the County Durham, North Yorkshire and Teesside will descend on the Dolphin Centre, Darlington, for the spectacle at 7pm on November 17.
The annual concert for the North of England has raised more than £200,000 for good causes in Nepal, the home of the Gurkhas.
Last year’s concert raised funds to replace the bamboo classroom of a school in the Okhaldhunga district of east Nepal which had been erected in place of one which was badly damaged during the earthquakes of 2015.
This year the target is the Chyandanda school in west Nepal which is currently a lower secondary school but needs a three classroom earthquake-proof extension to become a higher secondary school. Details of both projects will be on display at the concert.
The band is currently on tour in India and Afghanistan and will perform at the Gurkha Passing out Parade in Catterick before travelling to Darlington.
The 18thconcert in the series will feature a lively mix of Western and traditional Nepalese music and, to commemorate the end of WWI, songs from the First Wold War era, culminating in a rousing rendition of Land of Hope and Glory.
Chairman of the Yorkshire branch of the Gurkha Welfare Trust Col Keith Ryding said: “A good audience adds so much to the atmosphere and I am convinced that this year we will be caught up in the national spirit of Remembrance.
“The Gurkhas have been a fundamental part of the British Army since we first faced them in 1815 during an incursion from Nepal into India. It became evident all too quickly that they make much better friends than enemies and they have served us with distinction ever since, including during WWI.”
The concert’s main sponsor, chairman of Sherwoods Alasdair MacConachie, whose father was a Gurkha commander, added: “My father served with the 7thGurkhas and I believe it is our duty to continue to support them, ex-servicemen and their families back in Nepal.
“The concert is always breath-taking but this year promises to be extraordinary as it coincides with such a momentous occasion. The Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas are stunningly talented musicians and the Northern Voices Choir is amazing. The concert is certainly going to be one to remember.”
Tickets are available from keithryding@hotmail.co.uk, or on line at www.gwt.org.uk/events-and-challenges/gurkha-band-concert/ Prices are £15 for the main sports hall seats and £10 for the rear tiers.