For more photographs of our 2012 concerts see our Gallery 2012 page.
Christmas Concert - 15 December 2012The Christmas Concert at Abbey School in Reading was a great success. The audience went away feeling suitably festive after a good range of Christmas music and the public performance of our gold winning NCBF pieces. It was also the climax of the Young Composer Competition, with the winning entry "Taking Flight" receiving its première. The winner, 14 year old Thomas Carr from Newbury, was presented with a laptop and music composition software for his prize, and received a standing ovation from both the audience and the band.
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Christmas Carolling - 9 December 2012A few hardy members of the band braved the cold to play Christmas carols for the
shoppers of Reading, and raise money for Brass for Africa. |
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National Concert Band Festival - 2 December 2012The band went to the regional heats of the National Concert Band Festival in
Southampton and were delighted to come away with a Gold Award for their performance. This reflects a lot of hard work that had gone into perfecting the three competition pieces: O Magnum Mysterium, Flight of the Piasa, and the Chaconne from Holst's Suite in Eb. |
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Summer Concert - 21 July 2012To reflect the Olympics taking place this year, the summer concert had a sporting theme, as well as pieces representing different countries. We were also raising money for the local charity Sport-in-Mind, an independent Berkshire-based charity that uses sport to promote mental well-being and improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems. We were lucky enough to be able to borrow a genuine Olympic torch from Andy Lavery, who carried it on one of the relay sections through Reading.
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Newbury Victoria Park Bandstand - 1 July 2012Another local bandstand performance, and a much better day for the sunshine meant that the park was busy with people listening to us play favourites such as Les Miserables, the Blues Brothers and Gershwin's Summertime.
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Reading Forbury Gardens Bandstand - 3 June 2012The band played as part of the Jubilee celebrations at Forbury Gardens in Reading, and were delighted that such a large number of people turned out to watch, in spite of the very wet weather! Everyone got into the spirit of the day, waving flags and singing along to music such as Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia, and Jerusalem.
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Eastbourne Bandstand - 20 May 2012Eastbourne's prestigious bandstand was undergoing repairs so concerts were being
performed at the temporary "Bandstand on the Beach". The lower woodwind, brass and percussion squeezed themselves onto the stage, whilst the high woodwind and French horns found themselves balanced on the beach stones. We battled with the brisk breeze, but were lucky with the sunshine, and there was an appreciative audience, with plenty of people comfortably settled in the deck chairs and many others watching from the promenade above. |
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Spring Concert - 10 March 2012We started our 2012 concert season with a spectacular concert at Kennet Valley Free Church. We performed some tricky new music alongside some well known musicals and popular pieces, to an appreciative audience. We were also joined by Soundblast Sinfonia, Reading’s newest streetband, who had the audience dancing & clapping along whilst the group was performing some of its latest pieces.
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