Gold Award at NCBF Finals, 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.
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.
Golden Anniversary 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.
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.
Golden Anniversary Year
Welcome to the 50th year of South Berks Concert Band playing music for your enjoyment. To celebrate this milestone we will be holding 4 concerts this year and we would love for you to join us, so do look out for more details on our social media platforms or check here on our website. We are looking forward to sharing our year with you.
We also have a special logo for the year.
We also have a special logo for the year.
Christmas Concert, 13 December 2025
Thank you to everyone who came to our Christmas Concert at St Mary’s Church in Burghfield on 13th December! It was a wonderful evening, with music from the classic Christmas films “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Home Alone”, and the chance to hear our NCBF pieces.
We were also pleased to support The Loddon School, which is home for children aged 8 – 19 with profound autism. Donations from the refreshments and raffle will help them towards their goal of providing a cart and horse harness to support some of the work with the children.
We hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did. It was a pleasure to see so many people there.
We were also pleased to support The Loddon School, which is home for children aged 8 – 19 with profound autism. Donations from the refreshments and raffle will help them towards their goal of providing a cart and horse harness to support some of the work with the children.
We hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did. It was a pleasure to see so many people there.
Platinum Award at NCBF Regional Event, 2 November 2025
We have been awarded a PLATINUM award for our performance at the National Concert Band Festival Regional event at Eastleigh.
We performed 3 pieces of music: Grenadiers! by Rob Wiffin, Life Eternal by Rossano Galante, and To a New Dawn by Philip Sparke. The adjudicators were particularly complimentary about our interpretation of the music, and of the soloists.
Here is one of our mascots, Billy Bear, proudly showing off the certificate.
We performed 3 pieces of music: Grenadiers! by Rob Wiffin, Life Eternal by Rossano Galante, and To a New Dawn by Philip Sparke. The adjudicators were particularly complimentary about our interpretation of the music, and of the soloists.
Here is one of our mascots, Billy Bear, proudly showing off the certificate.
Winner of the Making Music Award for Best Photo of a Leisure-Time Music Group
The band won the Making Music award for Best Photo at the ceremony held on 24th September.
The winning photo was taken as the band performed on Brighton Bandstand in 2021.
Of all the possible photographs of a large concert band, one might expect a traditional setting — yet this image of a Victorian-era bandstand, framed by the shimmering expanse of the sea behind, captures the charm of a community wind band in a truly extraordinary way. Unbeknownst to the band, a passer-by paused to capture this striking image. A few days later, an unexpected email arrived with a photograph taken by Louise Yates, accompanied by the poignant words: 'Thank you for the music'.
Thank you Louise for this!
The winning photo was taken as the band performed on Brighton Bandstand in 2021.
Of all the possible photographs of a large concert band, one might expect a traditional setting — yet this image of a Victorian-era bandstand, framed by the shimmering expanse of the sea behind, captures the charm of a community wind band in a truly extraordinary way. Unbeknownst to the band, a passer-by paused to capture this striking image. A few days later, an unexpected email arrived with a photograph taken by Louise Yates, accompanied by the poignant words: 'Thank you for the music'.
Thank you Louise for this!
Mortimer Fun Day
Band members provided the opportunity for anyone to have a go at a musical instrument at our stall at Mortimer Fun Day on Saturday 5th July.
We had a selection of brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments with us, providing a fun, if noisy, experience for anyone to try for themselves, with our band members on hand to demonstrate and help everyone to get a few notes out of each. The youngest to try them out was a baby of only a few months old, who enjoyed the sound of the egg shaker. The most popular instruments were the saxophone, trumpet, and the range of smaller percussion instruments to hit, shake, and scrape.
Our small saxophone group, Sf Sax, were also there to play a few pieces of music for onlookers.
Did you have a go? Let us know at SBCB_Music@yahoo.com if we inspired you or your children to take up a musical instrument!
We had a selection of brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments with us, providing a fun, if noisy, experience for anyone to try for themselves, with our band members on hand to demonstrate and help everyone to get a few notes out of each. The youngest to try them out was a baby of only a few months old, who enjoyed the sound of the egg shaker. The most popular instruments were the saxophone, trumpet, and the range of smaller percussion instruments to hit, shake, and scrape.
Our small saxophone group, Sf Sax, were also there to play a few pieces of music for onlookers.
Did you have a go? Let us know at SBCB_Music@yahoo.com if we inspired you or your children to take up a musical instrument!
Welcome to our NEW WEBSITE!
Barney Bear is thrilled to introduce you to our newly designed website.
Take a look around to find out more about the band and our history, our Director of Music, and our smaller ensembles.
Discover more about our upcoming events and where you can hear us play.
Take a look at our Past Events pages to see information and photos from the last few years, and browse through the galleries of each event - were you at any of them?
You can view some of our most recent videos, and link to more on our YouTube page.
Get in Contact with us via email, using our Contact form, or follow us on our Social Media pages.
If you are a musician and inspired to join us, you can find out more about how to do that too!
Drop us a line at SBCB_Music@yahoo.com to let us know what you think about the website.
Take a look around to find out more about the band and our history, our Director of Music, and our smaller ensembles.
Discover more about our upcoming events and where you can hear us play.
Take a look at our Past Events pages to see information and photos from the last few years, and browse through the galleries of each event - were you at any of them?
You can view some of our most recent videos, and link to more on our YouTube page.
Get in Contact with us via email, using our Contact form, or follow us on our Social Media pages.
If you are a musician and inspired to join us, you can find out more about how to do that too!
Drop us a line at SBCB_Music@yahoo.com to let us know what you think about the website.
We're Recruiting
South Berks Concert Band needs YOU!
We have openings for Trumpet and Trombone players of at least Grade 6 standard to join our award winning concert band, playing exciting, challenging music in a friendly and relaxed environment. Are you available to rehearse in Tadley on Friday evenings? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at SBCB_Music@yahoo.com.
More details about the band are on our Join Us page.
We have openings for Trumpet and Trombone players of at least Grade 6 standard to join our award winning concert band, playing exciting, challenging music in a friendly and relaxed environment. Are you available to rehearse in Tadley on Friday evenings? If so, we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at SBCB_Music@yahoo.com.
More details about the band are on our Join Us page.
Online Ticket Sales
TicketSource has proven to be a quick and easy way of ordering your tickets to our concerts, so why not take a look?
There is no booking fee, and you can print an e-ticket at no extra cost or choose to pay a small fee to have it sent directly to your phone or posted to you.
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There is no booking fee, and you can print an e-ticket at no extra cost or choose to pay a small fee to have it sent directly to your phone or posted to you.
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