HISTORY
Founded by Ted Cannon (first
conductor) and Frank Sympson (conducted junior band) over the summer of
1984.
The title "Bourne
Concert Band" was adopted in August 1984 and became the Bourne
Concert Band of Woking in 1995 when officially linked with Woking.
- Ted Cannon (1984-1989)
- Douglas Fairchild (1989)
- John Little (1989-1992)
- Alan Jack (1992)
- Paul Harris (1992-1996)
- Robert Marks (1996-1998)
- Guy Booth (1998-1999)
- Paul Wilman (1999-2000)
- Chris King (2000-2002)
- James Marshall (2002-2003)
- Patrick Rivers (2000-2004)
- Michael Walters (2003-2004)
- Esther E Freeborn (2004)
- Matthew Speight (2004-2010)
- Steve Waters (Summer 2010)
- Robert Smith (2010-2012)
- Graham Atterbury
(2012-2013)
- Jonathan Spencer (2013-2016)
- Harvey Baigent (2016-2018)
- Paul Dove (2018-2019)
- Tom Greenhalf (2019 to date)
The first concert programme in the
Band archives is for a concert at Addlestone Community Centre on the 6th
December 1986. The Band
normally performs two formal concerts a year and as well as the
Addlestone Community Centre, venues have included local churches, The QE2 Theatre,
Rhoda McGraw Theatre, Christ Church and the H.G. Wells Suite, all in
Woking.
The Band has also played at many venues, both indoor and
out, locally and further afield:
- Addlestone Carnival
- Woking Town Square and Bandstand
- Victory Park, Addlestone
- Runnymede Pleasure Ground
- Virginia Water
- Gogmore Farm Park, Chertsey
- Memorial Gardens, Staines
- Walled Garden, Sunbury
- St. Peter's Hospital, Chertsey
- Anugraha Hotel, Egham
- St James's Park, London
- Regents Park, London
- Losely House, Guildford
- Guildford Castle Grounds
- Penshurst Place, Kent
- Pine Walk Bandstand, Bournemouth
- Parade Gardens, Bath
- The Bandstand, Eastbourne
- Somerville College, Oxford
- St James Church, Weybridge
- Paris, France
- Amstelveen, Holland
- Brussels and Bruges, Belgium
The Bourne Concert Band entered the
1993/4 Boosey & Hawkes National Concert Band Festival in the
Community Section of the London and Southern Region, where they won a
gold award. At the finals at the Royal Northern College of Music,
Manchester, the band was awarded a certificate of merit.
The BCB has held joint concerts with
Patrimonium from Amstelveen, Holland, La Lyre from Le Plessis Robinson
in France, the Weybridge Male Voice Choir and Tomlinscote School Choir.
In 2004 the BCB visited Belgium
and performed two concerts with the
Bagshot Concert
Band.
In the winter of 2002/2003 the Bourne
Concert Band held a competition entitled ‘Calling all Composers’ in memory of a
band member, David Allen, who was tragically killed in a road accident a
few years before. The winner was John Hughes with
his composition ‘Piece for David’ which the band premiered at their
March 2003 concert. For more details, click
here.
The Bourne Concert Band has links with
the Patrimonium from Amstelveen, near Amsterdam and La Lyre from Le
Plessis Robinson, near Paris. Both towns are twinned with Woking.
Patrimonium visited Woking in
September 1992 and October 2000 and BCB visited Amstelveen in 1993.
La Lyre visited Woking in March 1995
and March 1997, and BCB visited France in 1995.
The
Bourne Concert Band has held concerts to raise money for White Lodge
Centre for Disabled Children, Royal Air Force Association, Treloar Trust
for young people with disabilities, St Peter's Hospital (concert
recorded and later broadcast on Radio Wey), St James Church,
Weybridge and Woking Hospice.
The BCB has held three rehearsal
weekends at Lancing College, West Sussex and Monkton Combe School, near
Bath. There have also been weekends away in Manchester (for the Boosey
& Hawkes competition) and in Bournemouth.
In April 2004 the BCB visited
Belgium with the Bagshot Concert Band, performing concerts in Brussels and Bruges. The Band
has also
visited Rouen, France in June 2006,
Devon in June 2007, the
Isle of Wight in June 2008,
Le Touquet, France in June 2009,
Jersey in June 2011,
Guernsey in 2012,
Derby in 2013 and
York in 2014 and the
Isle of Wight in June 2015.
The Band holds various social
functions throughout the year, Annual Dinner, picnics, bowling, etc |