Archive for News

Saints next concert with Reading Spring Gardens Brass Band Sunday the 20th of May

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Saints had their last rehearsal, preparing for Sunday’s concert with Reading Spring Gardens Brass Band.

If you want to know what Saints are up to for this concert, then you’ll have to come along and see what all the photo’s below are about. It poses to be a wonderful afternoon of music and we are excited to be joining the wonderful players of Reading Spring Gardens.

The concert starts at 2.30Pm at Christ Church, Woodley. This is a FREE event, but there is a retiring collection for the Church at the end.

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Start of the year sees Saints gain Second Place at the scaba Spring Contest and a young player’s First Contest

Saints have been busy since John Watts came on board in January, preparing for the Area contest that takes place in March. Like many bands, we decided to give the Area test piece, Ex Terra Lucem (by Jonathan Bates), a good run out at scaba’s spring contest at The Hawth theatre in Crawley on Sunday the 25th of February.

Saints worked hard, and with John at the helm, we came away with the Second Place trophy, the March Prize and the Soloist Prize won by our flugel player Damon Emes.

Contest Secretary (Leighton Cornelius) and Chairman (Llewellyn Wells)

Contest Secretary (Leighton Cornelius) and Chairman (Llewellyn Wells)

Not only was this the first contest and event of the year for Saints and with John as MD, but it was also our youngest player, Victoria’s first ever contest. At 12 years old, Victoria Thompson has been doing a brilliant job playing 3rd cornet and will be joining us at the Areas. A very talented young musician, Victoria showed no nerves at all, and did her parents Dawn (our 2nd Horn) and Andy (Bass) proud!

Victoria with her Cornet

Victoria with her Cornet

Mum and Daughter

Mum and Daughter

You can keep up to date with the band’s activities by visiting our social media pages:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wokinghambrassband/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WokinghamBrass

Upcoming Dates in 2018
Sunday 18 March – Area Contest in Stevenage
Sunday 22 April – St George’s Day Parade
Monday 7 May – May Fayre

Saints Offer MD position to John Watts

The band are pleased to announce that with a majority vote, they have offered the MD position to John Watts, who has accepted in principle.

John is an accomplished musician and teaches Brass at both Berkshire Maestros and Henley Music School. He has conduced many bands, including coaching youth orchestras and area ensembles and is the Co-Conductor of the Brass for Africa Band.  He also regularly deputy conducts Pangbourne Brass Band, conducting them at the 2016 area regional championships, as well as Trinity Concert Band and South Berkshire Concert Band.

A skilled Brass player (Tuba and Euphonium), John has played for Friary Guildford, Aldbourne, Bath Spa, and Markham Brass Bands, as well as Orchestral organisations such as Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra and Reading University Symphony Orchestra to name a few.

John is due to start on the 4th of January 2018.

 

A Night at the Movies with Saint Sebastian Wokingham Band on 14th October 2017

Saints’ next gig will take you on a journey through the cinematic universe, with music from Jurassic Park, The wizard of Oz and James Bond to name a few.

Playing at the Whitty Theatre, Luckley House School, Wokingham, Saints will be joined by the ever-popular singing group, Masterclef.

Tickets are only £10 and you can buy these on the door, or to make sure you get one go directly to https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/sswb  or phone 0333 666 3366.

 

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Malta Day 2017

Saint Sebastian Wokingham Band did a wonderful job entertaining the Maltese and guests at this years Malta Day cultural festival at Westminster Cathedral in London.

Malta day conducted by Band Master Block

Malta day conducted by Band Master Block

Under the direction of our wonderful Band Master, Steve Block, who has been doing a great job conducting the band while the process for a permanent MD continues, the band played throughout the day entertaining the audience with a varied programme including a variety of traditional Maltese tunes.

Our Awesome cornet section!

Our Awesome cornet section!

Despite being a very early morning as the band board the bus at 7.15am to get into London, this is one of their favourite gigs during the year! Playing from 9.50am – 5pm, the band play briefly outside in the morning, followed by three main sets in the hall and ending with a gathering in the Piazza and a firework display.

Baritones and Trombones having a great day

  Baritones and Trombones having a great day

Obligatory Horn selfie

Obligatory Horn selfie

We are fortunate to have many friends willing to help us out and due to some gaps, being the holiday season, we welcomed guests to play with us. Speaking to some of them afterwards, they all had a great day and said that they would always be happy to help out on Malta day if needed.

Brilliant Basses

Brilliant Basses

Paul on drums

Paul on drums

Thanks to everyone for making this years Malta Day a success and such fun!

Musical Director required for Saint Sebastian Wokingham Band

Saint Sebastian are looking for a new Musical Director

We are looking for a new Musical Director

Musical Director

The band thank Nigel Howard for his hard work, musicianship and guidance over the past 10 months. Since joining us last August, Nigel’s contribution was essential to our success at the National Championship and our fabulous concerts in Wokingham. Nigel wishes the band every success for the future and thanks everyone for their hard work during his time as MD. We also wish Nigel the very best in his musical career.

First Concert of the Year!

Saints are back with our first concert of the year at All Saints Church, Wokingham on Saturday the 25th of February.

We are privileged to be sharing the concert with A440 Choir; an exciting mixed-voice choir of 40 singers based in Berkshire. Together we will perform the best of Brass and Choral music.

With a varied and exciting evening of music planned, Saints and A440 Choir know the church is the perfect location to showcase our first joint concert!

The concert starts at 7.30pm with doors opening at 7pm.

Tickets are £10 with under 18s free, and can be bought on the door or via the website https://allsaintswokingham.yapsody.com/

 

February Concert Poster

Saints Christmas Concert on 15 December

Saint Sebastian Wokingham Band will be holding our Christmas Concert at Wokingham Theatre on Thursday the 15th of December, featuring a wide selection of brass band music and a few surprises.

The evening will most certainly be a celebration of music and festive cheer, and this year Saints will be accompanied by Masterclef who are singers from Woodley-based barbershop chorus, Thames Valley Chorus. Having competed at the Bournemouth Music Competitions Festival in July, they won the Barbershop Quartet & Small Ensemble class. They love close harmony singing and will be singing a selection from their repertoire of show songs, love ballads and pop classics, as well as a sprinkling of seasonal favourites at the Concert.

The concert starts at 7.30pm on the 15th of December and you can purchase tickets online at www.wokingham-theatre.org.uk

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Saints Support the Mayor in 10th Annual Concert

Presentation to the Mayor

Saints present the Mayor with the Wokingham March for the 10th anniversary.

St. Sebastian Wokingham Band’s annual concert in aid of the Mayor of Wokingham’s charity took place this year at the newly-opened Whitty Theatre at Luckley School. The evening, which was the 10th anniversary of the annual concert, was a little different than usual, as this year it was organised by the Town Mayor, Cllr Gwynneth Hewetson, and we shared the concert with some of her chosen local acts.

Saints opened our set with the premiere of a brand new composition commissioned in honour of the town – The Wokingham March. This was composed by our cornet player and bandmaster, Steve Block, and is based on The Wokingham Song by Roy Lillington. The piece went down extremely well with the audience and afterwards The Mayor was presented with a special memento in honour of the premiere of the piece and the 10th anniversary of the concert, which is now displayed in the Town Hall!

After this presentation, the Bandsman of the Year was announced, which is voted for by band members and given to the member that has contributed the most to the running of the band in the past year. The very-deserving winner this year was our band librarian, and part-time quartermaster, Siân Moorhouse. Siân also received a long-term service award for her 5 years with the band, and a special award was given to Bill Martyn for his amazing 45 years’ service with the band.

Following the awards, our MD, Nigel Howard gave the audience a brief introduction to the film Brassed Off, which had been requested by the Mayor as a theme for the concert, before the band played several pieces from the film. The first piece we played was a Flugel Horn solo, featuring Damon Emes; Rodrigo’s Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez (famously referred to as Concierto d’Orange Juice in the film). This was followed by Clog Dance and Danny Boy, before finishing with a breathtaking rendition of the William Tell Overture.

The concert was a huge success, and some fantastic feedback has been received. Of course the night was not just ours, and the success is shared with our fellow performers the Wokingham Choral Society, Jaxannah, When We Speak and The Hula Monkeys.

Saints are now looking forward to our next public engagements – our annual marches in Wargrave and Wokingham for Remembrance Sunday on 13 November. We are also busy in December with carolling, and our Christmas Concert this year is on Thursday 15 December at the Wokingham Theatre, in aid of the Wokingham Cancer Care Trust.