On 8 September 2018, Malta Day was once again celebrated in London. This event, in its 14th year, has become the leading feature in the calendar of Maltese communities and individuals in the UK. Saints have now been privileged to provide musical entertainment to the large number of Maltese and their families and friends who have travelled from all over the UK to attend the national festival for the last few years.

The day began with a Maltese Fair held in the Westminster Cathedral Hall, at which Saints provided music of all genres, including a number of very traditional Maltese marches and folk songs. After having the opportunity to sample some of the various Maltese food and drink on offer at the Fair, we were privileged to accompany the Gaulitanus Choir with psalms and hymns during the celebration of Solemn Mass inside Westminster Cathedral itself.

The event marked another great success for Malta Day and the Maltese community within the UK. It is an event which we are proud to support and look forward to continuing to do so for many years to come.

On 16 June 2018, Saints performed our ‘Conquest of Paradise’ concert to a packed Wokingham Town Hall. The concert provided a great opportunity for the band to perform its American-themed entertainment programme, originally conceived for the SCABA Entertainment contest but the same being very well received during the ‘Reading Festival of Brass’, together with some newer items which had been prepared by the band specifically for the concert.

The concert also provided the ideal setting for one final outing of the 2018 Regional Test Piece, Jonathan Bates’ Ex Terra Lucem, following Saints’ second-place performance of the piece at this year’s regional contest, enough to secure a place in the National Finals in Cheltenham later this year.

The concert was a massive success and we thank everyone who came and contributed to what was a great evening for the band. For the band, attention now turns to this year’s National Finals piece, Stephen Bulla’s Firestorm.

On Sunday 20th May 2018, Saints were proud to join together with the Reading Spring Gardens Band for the first ‘Reading Festival of Brass’ event at Christ Church in Woodley. The band had been working hard in preparation for the annual SCABA Entertainment contest in Crawley, but unfortunately this was cancelled at fairly short notice. Eager not to waste the time spent preparing our American-based entertainment programme, we were delighted to get the opportunity to perform with Spring Gardens, who found themselves in exactly the same situation as ourselves. The event also offered the opportunity to raise some funds for the Christian disability charity ‘CBM’.

After Spring Gardens entertained the crowd with their programme, Saints opened our contribution with Vangelis’ ‘Conquest of Paradise’, which saw the band enter section by section during the piece until the full band was united together onstage. Karl King’s march ‘The Trombone King’ followed, with contrast provided thereafter with Alan Fernie’s arrangement of ‘Deep River’ (the second movement of his ‘Southern Gospel Suite’). The band’s solo item featured Damon Emes on flugel performing ‘Under the Boardwalk’, as arranged by Philip Harper for the Cory Band’s ‘Brass in Concert’ programme 2017. The finale to our programme featured a number of well known American pieces contained within Dan Price’s ‘An American Tale’.

Following the conclusion of our programme, Saints and Spring Gardens joined forces for the conclusion of the concert, performing the march ‘Imperial Echos’, the Bandsman’s Hymn ‘Deep Harmony’ and the National Anthem.

The event was a great success and raised just under £200 for a good charitable cause. We look forward to joining together with Spring Gardens again in the future.