Summer concert
4 July 2026
We were in a warm St John's Church in Mortimer to perform our summer concert to a very enthusiastic audience. Our most popular pieces were Holst's Jupiter, from the Planets Suite, The Wishing Well, by Rossano Galante, Vaughan Williams' Folk Song Suite, and our final piece, which was Lord Tullamore, by Carl Wittrock. We were also thrilled to perform the world premiere of Rob Wiffin's A Deo et Regina, which he composed especially for us to celebrate our 50th anniversary year.
We provided cakes and cold drinks in the interval, with donations for these being collected for our charity of the year: My Cancer My Choices. The charity provides support to people living with cancer, and offers a range of complementary therapies, including acupuncture, massage, reflexology, mindfulness, yoga, reiki, and art therapy.
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Alton Music in the Park
21 June 2026
Our 2nd outdoor appearance of the year was in Alton Public Gardens, just as the first heatwave kicked off! We were very pleased to be able to perform under the lovely wooden canopy in the Gardens, as that gave us some shade, whilst those listening to us found plenty of sheltered spots underneath the surrounding trees. A few members then treated the rest of the band, and some of the watching audience, to much needed ice creams in the break.
As always, the piece with the biggest cheer was Instant Concert, but the audience also enjoyed our performance of How to Train Your Dragon, Les Miserables, and The Lion King as part of the musical selection.
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Bradfield Mayfayre
4th May 2026
We started our outdoor events for 2026 with an appearance at Bradfield Mayfayre.
We played some of our most popular pieces, including Instant Concert, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Greatest Showman, entertaining many people as they ate their ice creams or hotdogs. As is often the case, most of the band were tucked safely inside the marquee, but a few sections, including the conductor, were watching the clouds carefully, and hoping the rain would hold off, which, luckily, it did!
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National Concert Band Festival
12th April 2026
The whole band set off early in the morning on Sunday 12th April, travelling by coach to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester to take part in the Finals of the National Concert Band Festival.
We performed 3 pieces of music as part of our programme: Song and Dance by Richard Saucedo, A Glimpse of Paradise by Rob Wiffin, and Aurora Dances by Philip Sparke. At the end of the day we were thrilled to be presented with a Gold Award for our performance, and given some very encouraging feedback from the adjudicators.
Band members had time to listen to other bands playing at the Festival, including a special performance by the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, a very inspirational set of musicians.
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Spring Concert
28th March 2026
We were delighted to welcome so many people to our first concert of our Golden Anniversary year at St Mary's Church in Burghfield. Our programme included well known pieces including music from Phantom of the Opera, Band of Brothers, and Lord of the Dance. We had several pieces from the well-known wind band composer, Philip Sparke, including Aurora Dances, which will be performed as part of the National Concert Band Festival Final in April.
As this is a special year for us, our displays included images and anecdotes from our past 50 years of history, and many of the cakes in the interval had a "Golden" theme to them too.
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