Trustees Annual Report for Murley Silver Band 2025-2026
Murley Silver Band have had a very good year’s banding up to end January 2026. Band activities have taken on their usual routine of rehearsals to prepare for concerts, parades and contests. We have also been busy with a learner group (Bob Hall School of Music) and a development level band (Murley Concert Band) to help support young people’s musical journey towards the senior band.
In February Murley staged a Flower demonstration event in Fivemiletown College as a fund raiser.
The band’s plot of land was sale agreed in early February and passed to the solicitors to complete the legal work. We then prepared for the Brass in Concert Contest in early March held at The Valley Hotel, Fivemiletown. In April the band competed in the Annual Spring Festival of Brass Bands held at the Strule Arts Theatre in Omagh.
May saw the band play at the VE80 Anniversary event in Ballygawley, Co Tyrone. In June the band provided the music for the wedding of a band member in Enniskillen.In July a small group played at the opening of Fivemiletown United’s new 4G pitch. We also played at the 12[th] July parade in Augher. Later in the month the band played a concert at the Round O in Enniskillen. The band played at Fivemiletown’s Round O in August and then the Last Saturday parade in Cookstown at the end of the month.
In September Murley competed in the inaugural Brassfest Contest in Enniskillen and came 3[rd] .
On 17th September 2025 Murley held its Centenary Book Launch concert in the Valley Hotel. 200 books had been printed and sold at £20 each. By the end of the year all the books had been sold.
The Autumn saw us prepare for the NIBA contest at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh where we competed in mid October under Musical Director, Kevin Teers.
During November we played in The Solstice Theatre Navan, Co Meath as a joint concert with Navan Silver Band; both bands being conducted by Kevin Teers and in Omagh on Remembrance Sunday. The Concert Band (Junior Band) continued to function every week for one hour during the year with a good level of attendance and encouraging numbers. The Bob Hall School of Music restarted in November to try to develop players to come into the Concert band.
At Christmas we played at a number of events including St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. We then enjoyed our Christmas dinner at Edfield Restaurant, Fivemiletown where our annual fund- raising draw took place and cups were awarded to players/sections. Other small groups played on Christmas Eve in the Valley Hotel and on Christmas morning at the Methodist church. We also played at St Mary’s chapel on the last Sunday of the year. In December the long term lease (150 years) to allow us to re-develop the band hall was signed.
In January 2026 we started rehearsing for the Brass in Concert contest which was staged in the Valley Hotel, Fivemiletown at the end of February.
The Committee met every six-weeks usually through zoom calls with some face-to-face meetings towards the end of the year.
M Bloomfield Co-Chair
Murley Silver Band