Issue I BRISTOL Concert Wind Band
Scope
This is the Annual Report of the BCWB Trustees (who form the Committee). The last full AGM was held 30 June 2023. This Annual Report covers calendar year 2024, although inevitably some entries make reference to 2025 up to the date of the AGM.
BCWB Committee (i.e. Charity Trustees) between the AGMs of 27 June 2024 and 3 June 2025
| June 2025 | |
|---|---|
| Chair: Malcolm Fox Secretary:Chris Chaloner Treasurer:Ann Gordon |
Band Representatives: BCWB Rebecca Warren Eric Bateson Blown Away! To end 2024: o Elaine Amoso Gerald Pell from Jan 2025: o Phil Alleno Kat HollisWinds Of Change Karri Chandler Nell Buckley |
| General Committee members Jill Watson |
Chair – Malcolm Fox
At the 2024 AGM I took on the role of Chair. Like me, several of the Committee were new to their roles. I should like to thank the Committee for all their hard work, including the change in rehearsal venues for Blown Away! and Winds Of Change. We also coped with some mid-year band rep changes.
2025 looks as though it should be another good year for the organisation and all our bands.
Musical Director – BCWB – Paul Sidney
It has once again been an enjoyable and successful year for BCWB. Like any group, there are ups and downs, and comings and goings, however the concerts we have played have all be successful and great fun to conduct.
Membership is the main issue which causes a headache and it is always sad to see players leave and whilst we have lost some key players, we have also attracted new players, either directly or through a recommendation from the other bands within BCWB. These players have fitted in really well, and the band is still playing to a good standard with some vacancies mainly in brass and percussion. Sadly we have still required some deps to stand in at concerts but hopefully with a bit of a recruitment drive, we can address this and have the band filled with regular members.
Our concert in November was a highlight for me as we played with Charlotte Hunter who sang beautifully with the band. The band worked hard to play the different styles of music in the concert and blend with the singer making the whole evening a resounding success. Keynsham was memorable, but mainly for the thunderstorm which poured on our audience in the second half making us cut the concert short, however we did have a brave core audience that stuck it out as long as they could. All of our concerts have been a musical success and the level of performance from the band has been tremendous.
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I am looking forward to this next year. We are trying a new concert venue in St Mary's Church in Shirehampton, planning two concerts to raise money for charities and also returning to Bath Parade Gardens, which is a beautiful and picturesque venue. It is important to keep trying new things, but it is also good that we are keeping some traditional venues to build on our audience base.
I would like to thank all the players, everyone on the committee for their dedication in organising the events and concerts that we do, and especially to Jill who very patiently puts up with my requests for music and organises everyone parts which makes my job so much easier. Also a big thank you to Nicola and Susannah who have stood in to conduct when I have been unable to attend.
My goal is to look for constant improvement within BCWB and myself whilst enjoying ourselves. We certainly achieved that throughout this year and I will continue to look for the small improvements that add up over the longer term. I can't wait to see what happens in BCWB as we build on the success of this last year. Thank you
Musical Director – Blown Away! & Winds Of Change – Rob Bartlett
Winds of Change
2024 was a changeable year with regards to players joining and also leaving however we remained at a constant member level throughout the year with joiners replacing leavers.
We continued working on all aspects of playing focusing on rhythms as a priority along with dynamics.
I have stressed many time that writing instructions on parts is essential when implementing change regularly as there are many pieces to perform. This is still followed by most players and would love to see more players pencil ready when instructions are given.
After relocating to a more suitable rehearsal venue we enjoyed some good progress and readily prepared for a joint concert with Fair Winds in July which was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by both players and audience.
We followed this with a joint bandstand concert in Page Park in July which helped the players to see the progression of both bands.
Winds of change also enjoyed another performance at Clevedon Queens Square where although the audience was small was very appreciative.
Although we prepared for our usual Christmas performance due to weather were unable to perform but look forward to 2025.
A huge thank you to Nell and Karri for their tireless work in running the bands, Jackie for her support with the library and Cheryl for managing the rehearsal tea breaks.
Blown Away!
2024 was a very positive year for Blown Away! We enjoyed performing lots of new repertoire including Coldplay in Symphony which although challenging was a highlight of the season.
I was delighted by the continued enthusiasm of players asking to perform solo pieces. Mike Riley's Bass Clarinet solo in You raise me up and Julie Grays Clarinet playing in Klezmer were highlights as was Adrians Euphonium in Grandfathers Clock.
Due to opportunities within BCWB arising we were also able for Julie and Cathy ( A Sax) to join BCWB which shows the ability for new experiences and new challenges offered within the BCWB family.
In July we enjoyed an outdoor concert at Blaise Castle where although challenged by the winds the band raise to the challenge admirably.
In August we performed our Summer concert to a large and appreciative audience with stand out performances by Julie, Cathy, Mike and Adrian as mentioned earlier.
As well as our yearly concert at Pensford's evergreens we also enjoyed another summer park gig at Page Park.
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Although we prepared for our usual Christmas performance due to weather were unable to perform but look forward to 2025.
I'm very pleased with the development and progression of Blown Away this year but knew that this could be improved by a change in rehearsal venue so the relocation was a priority in 2024. Moving forward in 2025 I believe that even greater progression can be made.
Many thanks to Elaine and Gerry as our band reps who work worked tirelessly to ensure a rehearsal venue move in October due to the unsuitability of Christchurch. We shall miss them now that they have decided to step down from the Rep role.
We now welcome Phil Allen and Kat Hollis as our new Band Reps and look forward to a successful 2025.
Course Leader – Fair Winds – Tina Bartlett
2024 was another great year for Fair Winds. All players made great progress with their playing through lots of hard work and practice, at home and during rehearsals.
We played 4 performances in 2024, the first of which was on Saturday 22nd June, a chance to support Fresh Winds at their concert at Page Park Cafe. It was a lovely venue to hold a concert, and we enjoyed playing in the middle of some great sets performed by Fresh Winds. Fair Winds had their first chance to play some of the pieces we had been preparing such as 'Avatar: The Way of Water and 'The Yellow Submarine' and the band did a great job as always. Heather and I also enjoyed the chance to play some duets together.
Saturday 13th July was our next concert, which was a joint concert with Winds of Change at Christchurch Downend. Everyone performed marvellously and we had lots of fun. The band presented me with a lightsaber before our performance of 'The Mandalorian' - the first time I have ever tried to conduct with one and it wasn't as easy as it looked like it would be! Other highlights were playing pieces such as 'Music from Brave' and 'Big Band Superhits'. Fair Winds players always commit to playing their best and this really shows in their performances.
On Sunday 21st July we then played another joint gig at Page Park Bandstand with Winds of Change. This was a first for the group in getting to play in the actual bandstand. They looked, sounded great and handled all their music well. It is always interesting playing outside depending on weather at any time as you all know.
Unfortunately, due to some extreme weather we didn't get to play at the Christmas Concert on the 7th December, but we still managed to have a lovely Christmas Meal outing on Wednesday 11th December at La Passione in Kingswood and then play our Christmas Concert pieces at our Christmas gig at Frome Valley Medical Centre on Wednesday 18th December which was a very fitting and Christmassy end to the year. Thanks to all who were involved with the organising of those events. Another wonderful year with a great bunch of players/people. Thanks Fair Winds!
Course Leader – Fresh Winds – Heather Platt
Fresh Winds has continued with success throughout the year. Unfortunately, Heather has been ill during the period of preparation of this Annual Report for 2024, so there is no contribution covering Fresh Winds. This absence does not carry any significance.
Group Organiser – Swing’s Cool – Chris Chaloner
We continue to rehearse monthly on Sunday mornings in the Long Ashton Community Centre under the direction of Derek Lawrence. We rehearsed every month of 2024 except August (many people on holiday).
We are a non-auditioned rehearsal band founded many years ago to help Concert Band players to learn th e Big Band idioms and conventions, and that is still largely the case. We mainly play the standard Big Band repertoire from sheet music but not limited to the standard lineup. Reading skills are widened through playing parts with swing conventions, and it makes an enjoyable Sunday morning. There is no pressure. If anyone wishes to try out on almost any instrument you will be very welcome. There is no requirement to be able to improvise, but those who can will get opportunities to do so.
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Secretary – Jackie Gitsham before the AGM, Chris Chaloner afterwards
Committee Meetings have been held (a mixture of in-person and Zoom) on:
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12 January 2024
-
11 March 2024
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14 May 2024
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15 July 2024
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6 September 2024
-
8 November 2024
and so far in 2025:
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22 January 2025
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14 March 2025
-
6 May 2025
The AGM for Calendar Year 2023 was held on 27 June 2024. A proposal to change the Constitution to limit the length of service of Committee Members was rejected. [Note that there is already a limit on the number of years which can be served by the 3 Officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer).]
Membership Report for 2024 – Jill Watson
On the 31[st] December 2024, the membership across the BCWB organization totaled 162 members down 171 at the end of 2023.
A breakdown of the membership, across the bands at the end of 2024, and a comparison of the six preceding years, is given below:
| Bristol Concert Wind Band Blown Away! Winds Of Change Fair Winds Wind Jammers Fresh Winds Actual Membership |
2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 47 51 49 47 52 54 54 55 53 54 51 64 67 56 32 34 32 39 38 40 37 39 34 30 27 14 14 13 0 0 0 0 38 42 26 27 30 |
|---|---|
| 200 202 165 164 206 217 186 162 171 138 140 184 196 172 |
NB The total number across the individual bands is higher than the membership figures as 31 members play in 2 or, in some cases, 3 of our bands, either through learning to play a 2[nd] or 3[rd] instrument or helping to bolster sections to enhance performance.
The Summary of Leavers & Joiners in 2024 is given below:
| BCWB | BA! | WOC | FairW | FreshW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joiners | 4 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
| Leavers | 9 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 6 |
Additional Notes:
-
2 members joined BCWB from BA!
-
2 members joined BA! From Fresh Winds
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Music Library – Jill Watson
During 2024 16 new pieces of music were purchased across the three bands. Please see the Treasurers Report for details of these new pieces.
The auditing and preparation of each piece is an ongoing task but at the end of 2024 of the 948 pieces of music recorded as being in the library, a total of 146 pieces have now been identified as not being viable but that still leaves a possible total of approx. 802 pieces. Of the 802 pieces, at the end of 2024, 404 pieces had been fully processed and can confidently be used by the bands and this number is rising with each new purchase and band request for a piece that has not yet been prepared.
The Music Library can be viewed by all band members from within the Members area of the BCWB web site.
This preparation work ensures that these pieces can be taken out of the library in the full knowledge that they are viable. The preparation work also ensures that all parts are trackable, so that there is no guesswork as to who was in possession, and is responsible for any given part. This has helped to reduce the amount of music going missing, significantly.
The librarians work includes the following tasks:
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ensuring the music is complete and prepared for loan
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preparing music to ensure readability, and recreating missing parts, for those pieces that are out of print.
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ensuring everyone gets a part for each piece being used by the band
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making the music available to you when you next attend a rehearsal, even if you were not at the rehearsal when it was initially handed out
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ensuring all the music is collected in when no longer needed
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chasing parts not handed in from those individuals that the parts had been allocated to
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ensuring all parts are returned to their original envelopes and then returned to the library for another band to borrow
There are a number of people who are involved in these many tasks and a big thank you to them for all that they do to keep the music library in order. Everyone also has a part to play in looking after the library by ensuing that music, in your possession, is looked after, and returned in a timely manner.
Musical Instruments – Susannah Holmes
With no learning band starting this year, there has been less movement of instruments in and out of the band room. Several people have returned instruments as they are buying their own which is excellent. It was agreed that 2 large (expensive) instruments could be loaned out for a 4th year for two members of Tina’s Wednesday band. Both instruments were serviced at the cost of the borrower and this was mutually agreed to be a good arrangement. Focus in next few months to arrange returns of approx. 4 instruments from Tina’s closing band who are not intending to join WOC as it takes in Fair Winds.
Engagements in 2024
| Date - 2024 | Day | Band | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Mar | Sat | All | Soirée | W-o-T Village Hall |
| 28 Mar | Thu | BA! | Rehearsal | Downend Library |
| 23 Apr | Tue | All | Annual General Meeting | Christ Church Downend |
| 2 May | Thu | BA! | Pensford Evergreens | Pensford Village Hall |
| 18 May | Sat | BCWB | SpringConcert | THURC |
| 27 June | Thu | All | Annual General Meeting | Christ Church Downend |
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| 7 July | Sun | BA! | Parkgig | Blaise Castle Museum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 July | Sat | BCWB | Workshop+concert | Brimsham Green School,Yate |
| 13 July | Sat | WOC+Fair Winds | Summer Concert | Christ Church,Downend |
| 21 July | Sun | WOC+FW | Parkgig | Page Park bandstand |
| 21 July | Sun | BCWB | Parkgig | Lees Hill Park |
| 3 Aug | Sat | BA! | Summer Concert | Christ Church,Downend |
| 11 Aug | Sun | BA! | Parkgig | Page Park bandstand |
| 18 Aug | Sun | BCWB | Parkgig | Blaise Castle Museum |
| 31 Aug | Sat | WOC | “Park”gig | Queen’s Square,Clevedon |
| 1 Sep | Sun | BCWB | Parkgig | Keynsham Bandstand |
| 19 Sep | Thu | BA! | Pensford Evergreens | Pensford Village Hall |
| 9 Nov | Sat | BCWB | Autumn Concert | THURC |
| 7 Dec | Sat | All | Christmas event | Hanham CommunityCentre |
| 8 Dec | Sun | BCWB | St Peters Carol Service | St Peters Brislington |
| 18/19 Dec | All bands | Carolling | ParkwayStation |
The Hanham Christmas event was severely disrupted by bad weather. Rather than the carefully scheduled programme, an informal (and enjoyable) event was held involving those who could get there.
Videos - Chris Chaloner
Some of the engagements were recorded and uploaded to Youtube.
| 2024-12-07 BCWB All Bands Christmas Bonanza (Hanham Community Centre) – abandoned in normal | 2024-12-07 BCWB All Bands Christmas Bonanza (Hanham Community Centre) – abandoned in normal |
|---|---|
| form because of bad weather | |
| https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQQYvkSPo57i82p7qf5DSDXC |
is the link to the |
| playlist | |
| https://youtu.be/cJPM3s6kQtA?si=6mYEwB-a2fLRgc7s is the only content – Blown |
Away! 70s Tribute |
| (YMCA) | |
| 2024-11-09 BCWB Autumn Concert THURC, with Charlotte Hunter (soprano) | |
| https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQRejqYqZhhlpGkgWJKxskeN&si=xRqRoV8NVZp6FoSS |
|
| 2024-09-01 BCWB Keynsham Bandstand | |
| https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQSd6pGzDZzCkZ-_cwyEcnuA&si=qG32w-fr26x93arq | |
| 2024-08-31 Winds Of Change – Queen’s Square, Clevedon | |
| https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQSeWb02o7sJlo1_qh6yuuWZ&si=sEb9nzpfTyCATMWD |
|
| 2024-08-11 Blown Away! Page Park | |
| https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQTDNdm-lN-Oov98yrjU5LkJ |
|
| 2024-08-03 Blown Away! Summer Concert, ChristChurch Downend | |
| https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQTGUYcnYXWC48CtCE_DvfK7 |
|
| 2024-07-21 Winds of Change + Fair Winds, Page Park | |
| https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQRKA2SmxcimeYLy5LG-j98r |
|
| 2024-07-07 Blown Away! Blaise | |
| https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQQ2QSJ9I6-JtzL-ZSDxKF0i&si=v7Gmr9o5EDbaK0sM |
|
| 2024-07-06 Winds of Change + Fair Winds (+A Fair Breeze) Summer Concert, ChristChurch Downend | |
| https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQSKjgGOhOej2-yQzfrhqtUT&si=VBGIc9DhwevAE4Mh | |
| 2024-05-18 BCWB Spring Concert | |
| https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQThPf1VfMt3h_wWYZ4T3P4U&si=ae92XoVWN4NK2zkj | |
| 2024-03-23 BCWB all bands soirée, W-o-T Village Hall | |
| https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZHAemooGeQQfK8vKSitLX-8yHHjljzog&si=hGSe21FggP4yUjlJ |
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Accounts for 2024- Ann Gordon I confirni that I have thecked thrwht the Kcounts and thai all querles I have ralsed have been answered to my satisfaction. Please note that I have not undertaken a lormal audlt or verlfled any balances or tran&Ktlons but have Ilrntted my checks to a re¥lew of the accounts, cash book and bank balance and asklnz questlons to under5tsnd what they represent, I have not Identllled anv materlal Inconslstencles or omlsslon5. Debornh Thomp50n Page 8 of 11
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