empressorchestra

Well a year has elapsed since we updated the Empress Orchestra website to give it its “new” look and I thank everyone for their comments on its appearance.

Most things have worked quite well; our ‘Home’, ‘Blog’ and ‘Personnel’ pages receiving the most figures along with many people watching the video clips and viewing our photographs.

Since May 2009 we have attracted readers from nearly 150 countries worldwide and have translated virtually the whole of our site into Japanese.

I’ll be reviewing the site’s content after the upcoming Blackpool Dance Festival and shall be updating the ‘Home’, ‘Video’ and ‘Testimonials’ pages in due course. I shall also endeavour to work on the servers for the Newsletters and hope to have the problems fixed in the not too distant future.

If you have any suggestions for content that you would like to see featured pertaining to the Empress Orchestra and the things that we do, please feel free to get in touch.

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve embarked on a new samba for nine-times World Professional Latin American Champion Bryan Watson. Bryan asked me if I’d write some new tunes for the Orchestra for a venture that he and Carmen are heavily involved with in October (details to follow shortly).

As I know many visitors to the site will be dancing during the forthcoming Blackpool Dance Festival, I just wanted to share the fact that you’ll be hearing (and possibly dancing to) this brand new composition of mine as the piece gets its first airing!

So far I’m really excited about the score, in my opinion it’s as good as anything on our album ‘Always & Forever’, it’s a very different piece of music from the other sambas that we perform and I hope it will inspire great things on the floor!

Fingers crossed Bryan likes it too!

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

Lily Plowman is the third of our five winners to be announced and she will be receiving her copy of the Empress Orchestra’s album ‘Always & Forever’ very soon.

Congratulations Lily!

Remember to be in with a chance of winning one of the remaining two albums (specially signed by the the members of the Orchestra) all you have to do is become a fan of the Empress Orchestra on its Facebook Page or join up as a ‘Friend’ right here on our website.

Best of luck,

Ashley Frohlick

The second of our five specially autographed CDs goes to… Cedric Degroot!

Congratulations Cedric, your copy of ‘Always & Forever’ by the Empress Orchestra should be with you very soon. Details of the next draw will be posted in the not too distant future via the Empress Orchestra’s facebook page and on our website, best of luck to everyone!

Ashley Frohlick

Tania Kehlet is the first winner of our free competition which is giving away 5 of only 12 fully signed ‘Always & Forever’ CDs in the world.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy for yourself all you have to do is become a fan of the Empress Orchestra Page on facebook or sign up to be a ‘Friend’ of the Orchestra here on our website.

Names are randomly drawn, there are no questions posed, it’s just our way of marking the coming anniversary of the much celebrated album ‘Always & Forever’.

Best of luck and wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

To mark the first anniversary of the Empress Orchestra’s debut album ‘Always & Forever’, I’m going to be giving away 5 signed copies before the start of the Blackpool Dance Festival 2010.

To be eligible for one of only 12 copies in the world then you have to either be a ‘Friend’ of the Empress Orchestra or a fan of the Empress Orchestra on its facebook page.

Winners will be picked randomly and announced here and also on our facebook page in due course.

Good luck and best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

Just wanted to share the email from Augusto Schiavo who has informed me that there has been a new Ballroom Dance Federation formed in Italy.

Here are his words in Italian:

E’ NATA UNA NUOVA FEDERAZIONE Volevo comunicare a tutti la nascita in Italia di una nuova federazione, che si occuperà di danza, nel vero senso della parola. BUON ANNO

Loosely translated in my limited understanding of Italian:

A NEW FEDERATION WAS BORN, I wanted to let everyone know about the birth in Italy of a new federation that will dance in the true sense of the word. Good Year.

Augusto has been working very hard to try to help dancers be allowed to do just that and I wish him well with his brave quest for the good of Ballroom Dancing.

Comments as always welcome.

Best wishes,

Ashley

The very best of wishes to all at the start of this New Year and decade. Here’s hoping it brings health, happiness and a certain amount of luck to everyone.

Ashley Frohlick

On the verge of selling the world famous Blackpool Tower and Blackpool Winter Gardens, what changes would you like to see implemented by the prospective new owners to help turn around these two iconic venues for the good of Ballroom Dancing?

Comments welcomed.

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick

I wanted to say a big thank you to all that read our modest website regularly. Our pages are viewed by many thousands of readers from around 60 – 70 different countries within any one calendar month and up to a maximum of 100 countries per year.

We attract viewers from some unlikely nations such as Greenland, the Ivory Coast, Botswana, Senegal and Uruguay and it amazes me how far-reaching our music has become through the events for which we perform.

The reason I write this particular blog is because this month alone we have been read by viewers from 110 different nations – and I am pleased to welcome the readers from 10 countries that are new to our site:

Thanks once more to all, I hope that you enjoy what you read and that you will visit us again soon!

Best wishes,

Ashley Frohlick