The band entered the scaba Autumn contest on Sunday 29th September which was held at The Hawth Theatre in Crawley.
Having not contested for a couple of years, it was an early start with a final rehearsal at 8:30am at a local village hall before moving on to The Hawth for the competition.
Each band is required to play a test piece and a hymn and the band played The Malvern Suite by Philip Sparke and the hymn Hursley.
No prizes this time but some good comments from the adjudicator.
On Wednesday 11th September, the band played in St Margaret’s, a large 12th century church next to Westminster Abbey.
Guest conductor Billy Fletcher led the band through an extended set consisting of a variety of music, from traditional marches through to modern pop .
The fantastic acoustics and the large and extremely appreciative audience made this a very enjoyable day for the band.
The band made its debut appearance at the Alexandra Park bandstand in Windsor on 31st August and the location couldn’t be better – with views of both the castle and the river. Opened in 2016 by the Queen, this bandstand must be one of the newest around and replaces a derelict one that was removed over 30 years ago!
Musical Director Steven Williams chose a wide variety of music for the program and opened with Entry of the Gladiators (Julius Fucik). Other music included Be A Clown (Cole Porter arr. Alan Fernie) and The Best of Abba (Anderson & Ulvaeus arr. Bernaerts), as well as a number of pieces that featured particular instruments including Pie Jesu (Webber arr. R. Steadman-Allen) with Stephanie on Soprano and Mat Baker on cornet.
The concert concluded with the epic Starbust (Dan Price).
