How the team works: live music at Vale Park

It’s a beautiful space. On the banks of the River Mersey is a small park called Vale Park, not far from New Brighton. It’s nestled behind trees through which you can look out at the river and see the profile of Liverpool against the sky. The city’s profile has changed radically in recent years with the arrival of a growing number of high-rise buildings, and the new stand at Anfield football ground.

In the park itself, there is a bowl-shaped lawned area that provides space for people to set out deck-chairs and watch the bands that play in the bandstand every Sunday afternoon in the summer months. Local brass bands turn up to play a short concert. Some are brilliant, some probably could do with a little more practise. They are all amateur bands, enthusiasts who come together to play wonderful evocative music in a space that is a throw-back to a time long gone.

It’s fantastic that this space has survived, and not been turned into housing. Local volunteers look after the space. As well as a small cafe, there are art installations around the park.

So, I am sitting listening to a local brass band from Ellesmere Port playing film tunes. At the end of each song the conductor – in lieu of a microphone – wanders around the audience to let them know what the next song will be. It’s a lovely informal way to connect with the listeners.

As the next piece unfolds, I am thinking about how this group of about 20 musicians comes together with a common purpose to play this piece of music, and make it the best they can be. Each person making their own contribution to the whole, working within the constraints of the score and the parameters being set by the conductor. And as I wonder at the beauty of the music – I am thinking about the analogies for any kind of team working. Space for individual expression within a framework that makes the whole thing harmonious.