Toddington Town Brass Band, Contesting, Musical Tuition

Toddington Town Band’s 2011 season is now well under way following on from their historic centenary year.

In April the band played to an appreciative audience in the Village Hall at their Spring Concert, now a regular fixture in the band’s calendar. On this occasion, the concert had been jointly organised by the Foresters Friendly Society to raise money for their own nominated charity – the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s (RNLI) “Train One, Save Many” campaign. Some of the pieces performed, such as “Navy Mixture” and the emotive “Evening Hymn and Sunset”, had been specially selected to reflect a nautical theme in keeping with the charity.  The concert was attended by over 60 people including the Foresters “High Chief Ranger” and over £295 was raised for the cause by the event.

In early June, the band opened their “bandstand” season as the first performers of the year at the Leighton Buzzard Bandstand. After a successful and well received first half, the British weather unfortunately took a turn for the worse and, in the end, saw the band conclude their programme to some very hardy souls obviously determined to enjoy the entire performance despite the cold and the rain! We can only hope that the remaining concerts in July at Bedford and Dunstable are blessed with more agreeable weather.

The following week saw the band spread it’s wings to extend their performance ‘boundary’ areas once again. This time the band had been invited to perform in East London, at Christ Church in Barking, to help raise much needed funds for church garden improvements. Along with a BBQ, the local congregation enjoyed two performances – the first taking place in the garden – and joined in with singing  during the band’s selection from the stage show “Oliver” and with clapping to the popular folk festival medley “Hootenanny” - which led to the call for an encore.

A week later, and now back in more familiar territory, the band were joined by the ever-growing Learner Band as they presented their annual “Teas on the Green” afternoon. Despite the forecasts, the weather was kind to the appreciative audience who, alongside a feast of music, were also able to enjoy the traditional Cream Teas that were on offer and, as always, were a welcome part of this special occasion.

Looking ahead, preparations are now being made for the band’s Autumn Concert – please see the poster in this magazine for more details. Just like our Spring Concert, money raised will benefit charity. This time it’s for the very worthwhile cause, The Stoke Association.  Over a quarter of a million people in the UK live with long-term disability as a result of stroke. The Stroke Association - the only UK wide charity solely concerned with combating stroke - funds research into prevention, treatment, better methods of rehabilitation and directly helps stroke patients and their families.

Tickets for the concert will be available at the door and we’d love you to join us.  If you have transport problems but would like to be with us, let us know on the numbers below and we’ll do our best to make arrangements.

Looking even further ahead, our Christmas Concert will take place in the Village Hall on Saturday 10^th December. More information will be available nearer the time and, of course, will be on our website.

If you’re thinking there’s too much time between our concerts, we’re working on that too! Our long awaited CD is due to be recorded during October. We’re hoping it can be ready in time for Christmas – we’ve been assured it’s just the right size to fit into a stocking and it won’t take up too much wrapping paper!

For any further information about the band please check our regularly updated website - www.toddingtontownband.com  - or contact us on one of the following numbers:

Bandmaster          Ian Smith               01525 876839

Secretary              Andrea Horsler      07804501100

David Horsler