It’s nearly Christmas!…

Well, as summer comes to an end I can quite confidently say that it was been a great one!  The band has played a busy schedule of concerts and private events throughout summer 2014 and we have seen success in our recent recruitment campaign, as well.  We are still performing most weekends as we approach October.  With a short break in November, with exception of the remembrance day parade, we’ll be playing every weekend again, before you know it because it will be Christmas!  Sorry – I have mentioned the ‘C’ word!

At the beginning of the summer period we decided to go ‘big’ with our ‘Sherborne Town Band Needs You!‘ campaign, to try and interest a few more players to fill some empty seats.  It’s worked well so far and we are confident and hopeful that more players will come along as the campaign expands.  The brass banding world is a tough one and it would be fair to say that every band is finding current times difficult, but we are stronger than ever as I write.

We have also had great success (better than ever before!) with our Last Night Of The Proms concert.  On 20th September the Digby Hall was packed with enthusiastic audience members who clearly enjoyed this annual, patriotic evening!  It was also a great pleasure to have the town Mayor, Jon Andrews at the concert.

It’s great to write so positively about the current status of the Sherborne Town Band – there’s more to come as we will be busy as usual over December this year, so please come and support us in the town centre on Saturday mornings, or pop along to our ‘Christmas Sing-A-Long’ on Saturday 13th December (tickets available from November).

I leave you with some of the comments from the Last Night Of The Proms.  See you out and about in December!

 

“Fantastic – a great concert of variety and entertainment! “

“Excellent that the Youth Band were so involved – keep this up!”

“Wonderful concert as always – thanks so much, I enjoyed singing at the end!”

 

Band Dinner and Fundraising success!

Well, its been a busy few months in Sherborne.  After the contest weekend we prepared for our annual Band Dinner.  The dinner was a great night out and a good chance to socialise outside of the band room, for a change!  The pictures can be seen on the STB Facebook page – I have been busy tagging you all – sorry!  It was also a great opportunity to thank Paul Cosh for all his hard work over the past years with the band – as he has now stepped down as Musical Advisor to Sherborne Town Band.

DSCN2348

It was a couple of weeks after the dinner that we held a great fundraising afternoon at the Quicksilver Mail in Yeovil.  The Freetime Old Dixie Jassband from Holland came over to entertain us for the afternoon.  The crowds turned out on a wonderfully sunny Mother’s Day afternoon and the band made a substantial profit, to add to the much-needed money pot.  Thanks to all involved, including the staff at the Quicksilver.  The afternoon was a great success and the band were amazing!  Find the videos and pictures on Facebook / Youtube.

DSCN2406

Contest is over… bring on the summer!

Well, we have slogged away at the mighty St. Magnus over the last few months, and it was a fantastic day at Torquay on the 9th March.  The band played extremely well and everyone enjoyed a beautifully sunny day, after playing first!  8th place was a great result and the band stay in the Championship section for another year.  What a great achievement for all involved.  The bus was packed full of family and friends, supporting the band, all the way to the stage. The full results for the West Of England can be found at:  http://4barsrest.com/news/detail.asp?year=&criteria=Results%3A&id=18322#.UyoSZvl_t1Y

We now look forward to a great summer season, with lots planned.  Take a look at the events list on the main website:  https://www.sherbornetownband.co.uk/events.html 

The band are looking forward to an exciting program of music over the coming months – to give you a flavour – The Muppets, Cry of the Celts, Glenn Miller, and many more!  We will be in and around Sherborne throughout the summer as well as visiting Wells, Shepton Mallet, Martock and Midsomer Norton.

The annual band dinner will see us all get together and enjoy a well deserved drink or two, and we are saying a grand farewell to our long standing Musical Adviser / Director, Paul Cosh.  Paul has been involved with the band for many, many years and his father was a founding member.  His work and efforts will be hugely missed and we wish him a relaxing “retirement”!

Image

Above:  The band hard at work on the morning of the contest and Paul Cosh at the baton once again.  

Open Day, Saturday November 16th

Well its been a long time since I last blogged, and a lot has happened since then.  We were extremely happy with the Last Night of The Proms concert and how that went, and would like to thank all who came and made it such a great evening.  A special thanks for newly appointed Musical Director Steve Rogers who did a grand job in getting the audience involved.  It was also mentioned what a great programme of music the band played.  Some comments included:

“Fantastic Last night of the proms concert.  And the youth band were fantastic!!!  Well done all.”

“And what a fine night it was too!”

“A fantastic concert!”

We now look forward to our exciting Christmas schedule and all of the wonderful carol playing we will be involved with – it is a great time of the year and we always look forward to it very much.  Keep an eye on the blog for photos and videos!

We also have an exciting November with our Open Day.  This is a chance for us to show the local community what we’re all about, our wonderful facilities and a chance for potential players (youth or senior) to come and find out all about STB!

The day will be from 10am-2pm on Saturday 16th November 2013, at the Band Room, Terrace Playing Fields, Sherborne.  (DT9 5NS).  We hope to see as many people as possible – tell all your friends.  Come and have a blow, a cup of tea, a nose around and a chat!

poster

Summer in Pageant Gardens…

Well, we’ve just done our final of three fantastic concerts in the Pageant Gardens, Sherborne.  The audience was brilliant, and everyone seemed to enjoy the Vintage Caravan Teas and Coffees – and the cakes were excellent too!

We have thoroughly enjoyed entertaining the Sherborne community throughout the summer and look forward to more Music In The Park next year.  Huge thanks go to Sherborne Town Council for supporting and helping put on the events, the audience who came and listened and of course our conductors, Steve Rogers and Paul Cosh.  This is what we are about, music for the community, played by the local community.  We hope you’ve enjoyed it too.

We will be appearing in the Pageant Gardens again, next Saturday (14th) at the Catholic Church Fete, from 1pm onwards.  We hope to see you there.

I’ll leave you with a picture from the stand, which I took whilst on a 32 bar break from playing my cornet!

Photo 08-09-2013 14 53 32

OH – I nearly forgot – don’t forget the Proms, on Saturday 21st September, our prestigious event where you can wave your flags, sing and enjoy the great young talents of the Sherborne Youth Band!  Soloists to include Natalie Miles on Soprano Cornet and Colin Howell.  It’s sure to be a fantastic night of entertainment and great music – tickets on sale NOW!  See below for details – click on the image to go to the website for ticket information.

Final Proms 2013 jpg

Over and out for now… Joe.

Music In The Park success…

Yesterday saw the first of the 3 Sherborne Town Band Music In the Park concerts in the Pageant Gardens, Sherborne.  Despite bad weather, the event was attended by many, and the band sounded great.

The audience enjoyed some summer music from the town band including Disney classics, 633 Squadron and many more.  The highlight of the afternoon was the Sherborne Youth Band, who performed to a very high standard under the baton of MD Jim Bennett.

We are already planning and looking forward to our next appearance in the park on Sunday 7th July.  We hope you can join us once again, and we’ll try to bring sunshine!

IMG_2225

Music in the Park – Pageant Gardens

We are all very excited about our three Pageant Gardens events this summer.  The band will be playing on the following dates, starting at 2.30pm, in the lovely Pageant Gardens, Sherborne.

  • Sunday 23rd June
  • Sunday 7th July
  • Sunday 8th September

We are obviously hoping for glorious sunshine!  But whatever the weather, the band will be on top form, with the Sherborne Youth Band joining us on the June and July occasions.  It is a great opportunity for us to show off our great summer programme, and of course you could buy the latest CD!  Only £10 you know!

Come along if you can – bring the family, bring a picnic and enjoy the beautiful summer sound of a brass band and the wonderful scenery in the Pageant Gardens.

parkposter

The band would like to thank the Sherborne Town Council for its support and help with the above events.

SYB in Sherborne Times

The Sherborne Youth Band has been featured in this month’s edition of the Sherborne Times magazine.  The Magazine is a free publication which goes to every household in the town.  It is great to see such positive words about the band and to read about the progress and success of the players.  The band is going from strength to strength with musical director Jim Bennett and are soon to appear at a summer fete or engagement, near you!  The article is shown below.

SYB Sherb Times

Barton Inn a success again…

Well we were invited back to the Barton Inn at Barton St. David in Somerset last night for a German themed evening.  Last year we were located in the main bar, which is to be honest, cosy and lovely!!  But this year we stomped through the night in the skittle alley, which was superb and really worked well!

We even had a Spanish member of the band join us, which was especially helpful during the Spanish set!

Photos and videos are uploaded to Facebook, YouTube etc.  Find the links on the side.

A great night and many German themed antics had by all!  Thanks to Damien and all the crew at the pub!

IMG_2063

[youtube=http://youtu.be/VGPyChqa-Lc]

4BarsRest CD Review

4barsrest-logo

The band is really pleased with their latest CD Review from Iwan Fox, 4BarsRest.com.  The review really tells the story of the CD and its making, and the purposes behind it.  We are all very thrilled with the write-up and highly recommend that you go and give it a read!  The link is below.

You can purchase the CD through our own website… https://www.sherbornetownband.co.uk.

Well, now back to the Christmas carolling – keep up-to-date with all events from the main site.

Over and out for today!…

http://www.4barsrest.com/reviews/cds/cd510.asp

1 2 3 4 5