Autumn 2007 Newsletter

Woodley Concert Band
Newsletter October 2007

Welcome to the Woodley Concert Band newsletter.It has been a year since our last edition so we have lots of news to update you with!

The Wettest Summer on Record?

This summer was a first for WCB with the cancellation of 2 gigs due to bad weather. In July heavy rain prevented us performing in Wokingham as part of the ‘Sunny Saturdays’ band series. This was followed in August by the heavy flooding which meant that we were literally unable to reach the Henley bandstand (see photo) – that is, unless we had extended our uniform to include red or black wellies!

Henley Bandstand Summer 2007

By Request

For our autumn concert we wanted our Friends and audience to choose the programme – and we were inundated with requests from musicals to film scores, classics to jazz and much, much more. There was no way we were going to manage to play all the requests in 2 hours so we hope we managed to please each of you in some way.

Look out for some of the other requests in future concerts…..

Sound of Music
Annie
Sabre Dance
East Coast Pictures
Finlandia
Shenandoah
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Glenn Miller
Disney at the Movies
Skye Boat Song
The Gadfly
Ballet Egyptian
Baby Elephant Walk
Blues Brothers
Me and My Gal
Porgy and Bess
Bolero
Cowboys
Cavatina
Angel in Blue
Legend of the Glass Mountain
Fingals Cave
Lord of the Rings
Summertime
Kismet
Miss Saigon
Schindlers List
Semper Fidelis
Death or Glory
Nimrod
The Great Gate of Kiev
Peanut Vendor
Theatre Music
Peer Gynt
Daybreak
Mac and Mabel
633 Squadron...

Looking Ahead to Christmas

Our annual Christmas concert with carols will take place on Sunday 9th December at Bearwood Theatre, Sindlesham. As usual there will be a matinee performance at 2.30pm and an evening performance at 7.30pm. We hope we can tempt you with a programme of festive music interspersed with carols, mince pies & a drink in the interval and a charity raffle. For tickets, please call the ticketline on 0870 321 2186
We will also be playing for the switching on of the Woodley Town Centre Christmas Lights on 24th November, and you may see us out and about carolling around Reading in the run-up to Christmas.

Geoff Bamford

We were saddened earlier this year by the sudden death of Geoff who had been our lighting engineer for a number of years. He will be sorely missed at our future Bearwood concerts.

Friends of Woodley Concert Band - Keep Spreading the Word

We are really pleased that this year even more of you have chosen to become or remain Friends of WCB. To our new Friends – WELCOME! We keep saying it but its true -our concerts would be much the poorer without the support of our Friends. If you have any comments or suggestions about our Friends Scheme or know someone who would like to join, please contact Brenda (alto sax) at 12 Highfield Road, Twyford, RG10 0AA, or telephone 0118 934 5091, or e-mail us via the website.

Around the Band

The past year has seen a number of changes. After two years of sterling effort on the Committee Andy Lowe (euphonium & Chairman) moved on to new musical pastures and Pete Livesey (trombone & treasurer) also decided it was time to hang up his accounts and concentrate on his trombone playing! At the AGM Gregor Spowart (trumpet) stepped up as Chairman & Anthony Hodson (bassoon) has taken over the financial reigns. John Sayer (principal trumpet) has also brought his extensive musical skills and experience onto the committee, taking up the baton when required in his new role as assistant conductor. We have also welcomed new players: Claire Drylie has us joined on Bass Trombone, Owen Lloyd is boosting the trumpet section and John Deane has filled the vacant Euphonium chair.
Wedding Bells & New Arrivals
The Band sends its congratulations to
Alan (horn) & Jane (bassoon) Asher who tied the knot in Turkey this summer
Anna Carter (alto sax) on her marriage earlier this year
Alison Clare-Dalgleish (baritone sax) who gave birth to Frances Mary Dalgleish on 17th September

Photo: Jane and Alan cut the cake.

WCB performs to its largest audience ever!

In March the band performed live to 13,000 people! ….OK, so the ‘audience’ were the runners taking part in the Reading half marathon and they had no option but to listen to us as they ran past but hey, it’s a great story to tell!
WCB was also featured playing Mary Poppins on South Today news at the Shinfield School 300th anniversary fete. Check out the interview with John Lawes on our website!

And Finally...

If you want to keep up to date with what the Band is up to in between newsletter editions, then visit the Woodley Concert Band website. It contains news items, details of all our gigs, has a picture gallery for you to browse and you can also email us your views.
Alternatively, put pen to paper and write to the secretary - Catherine Piper (flute) at:
109 Vauxhall Drive,
Woodley,
RG5 4ED
if you want to provide feedback or request additional information.

Stop Press

Dates for our major concerts at Bearwood Theatre, Sindlesham have now been confirmed for 2008:
Spring Concert – 29th March (7.30pm)
Autumn Concert - 4th October (7.30pm)
Christmas Concerts – Sunday 7th December (2.30pm & 7.30pm.)


	WOODLEY CONCERT BAND ARE PLAYING AT WOODLEY CARNIVAL, WOODFORD PARK, WOODLEY ON SATURDAY 14 JUNE at 5.30pm 4 weeks, 5 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes, 7 seconds until your next chance to hear the band