Gallery 2011-2016
2016 - 40th Anniversary
2016 was an important year for the band as we celebrated our 40th Anniversary. We organised a series of events to help us celebrate throughout the year. Our four special concerts were:
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Spring Concert, "Through the Decades" on 9th April, which featured a range of music from the past 40 years.
The Summer Concert, “Community Celebrations” on Sunday 3rd July was played in the marquee on Mortimer Fairground. Included in the musical selections for the afternoon was the première of "Highdays and Holidays: The Mortimer Revel", written by world-renowned composer, Philip Sparke, which had been commissioned by the band to celebrate our anniversary. The Autumn Concert "Our Favourite Music" on Saturday 15th October was performed in St John’s Church in Mortimer. It was conducted by Rob Wiffin, the Director of Music at Kneller Hall, and featured music voted for by band members. |
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Our final concert of the year was "With Friends", on Saturday 3rd December, to which we invited former members of the band and past Musical Directors to join us either in the band or the audience.
Other performances during the year included a patriotic concert in Mortimer on 4th June to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, plus bandstand events in Henley on 8th May, Wokingham on 9th July, and at Bradfield Mayfayre on 2nd May. We also featured on Radio 3 in August with a recording of With Each Sunset by Richard Saucedo, and ran a “Get Playing” workshop on 10th September, where over 50 budding musicians from the local community had the opportunity to try lots of different instruments.
Other performances during the year included a patriotic concert in Mortimer on 4th June to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, plus bandstand events in Henley on 8th May, Wokingham on 9th July, and at Bradfield Mayfayre on 2nd May. We also featured on Radio 3 in August with a recording of With Each Sunset by Richard Saucedo, and ran a “Get Playing” workshop on 10th September, where over 50 budding musicians from the local community had the opportunity to try lots of different instruments.
2015
2015 was a year of several “Firsts” for the band: First time in a recording studio ; First time playing for the Mortimer community in a marquee with “Music for a Family Picnic” at our Summer Concert on 5th July; First time members of the audience sat amongst the band to experience the music from a new perspective; First time we performed at the Menin Gate whilst on tour in Belgium; First time members of the community had a go at some instruments at Mortimer Fun Day. There were also regular concerts at Kennet Valley Free Church – Spring Concert “A Woodland Wander” on 21st March, and the Christmas Concert “A Winter Wonderland” on 5th December, plus bandstand-style events at Bradfield Mayfayre, Reading’s Forbury Gardens, Henley’s Mill Meadows and in Wokingham Town Centre.
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2014In 2014 we performed 3 formal concerts at Kennet Valley Free Church in Calcot. The Spring concert “Carnival of the Animals” raised money for Launchpad Reading and The Children’s Charity. The Summer concert was music “From Stage and Screen”, and our Christmas concert was called “A Festive Celebration”. We also enjoyed several outdoor performances at Bradfield Mayfare, Victoria Park in Newbury, Reading’s Forbury Gardens, Eastrop Park in Basingstoke, at the Royal County of Berkshire Show, and Bournemouth. We finished off the year with carols at Sainsbury’s in Calcot.
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20132013 saw us do four performances in Kennet Valley Free Church: The Spring charity concert “Around the World in 80 Minutes” was in aid of Brass for Africa. We also did a Summer concert “A Summer Spectacular”, a Christmas concert and a special Children’s concert with percussion workshop. We also played at various bandstands: Newbury Victoria Park, Basingstoke Eastrop Park, Reading’s Forbury Gardens and Eastbourne Bandstand. We also went on a tour to the Black Forest in Germany, performing 3 concerts in Titisee, Wolfach and Schluchsee
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2012Our spring concert was at Kennet Valley Free Church, and our Summer concert, in aid of Sport-in-Mind, and the Christmas concert were both held at Abbey School in Reading. We also performed at bandstands in Eastbourne, Reading and Newbury, gained a Gold Award at the National Concert Band Festival, and raised money for Brass for Africa carolling in Reading.
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2011In 2011 we celebrated our 35th year as a community band by going on tour to Belgium, where we performed 3 outdoor concerts in Diksmuide, Ypres and Ghent. We also played at Bradfield Mayfayre, local bandstands in Reading and Newbury, and travelled to the seaside to perform on a very windy Brighton Bandstand. Our formal concerts included a spring concert in Kennet Valley Free Church in March, a proms-style summer concert in Leighton Park School, a community concert at Bradfield Primary School in November and Christmas concert at St Barnabas Church in Emmer Green, Reading. We finished the year with carols at Englefield Garden Centre.
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