Camberley and District Silver Band is a friendly, family-oriented community brass band based in Frimley Green, and we are looking for new members. Whether you are looking for an extra night of practice, are dusting off your instrument after a break, or even looking to add another instrument to your repertoire, you would be most welcome at our Friday night practices at St. Peter’s Church Hall from 7.45pm to 9.30pm (with a short break for refreshments).
To find out more about the band, visit our website at camberleyband.org.uk or email hello@camberleyband.org.uk.
The band plays regularly in the community: at bandstands over the summer; visiting care homes and community venues; our own concerts; Remembrance services in November; and carol services and out and about the local area at Christmas. We also enjoy social events, ad-hoc small ensemble performances, and helping other bands in the area with their engagements.
In terms of music, we play a huge variety of pieces – literally ranging from Beethoven and Mozart to Goodwin and Alford to Miley Cyrus and Hans Zimmer. We love playing a traditional march, suite or hymn setting just as much as an arrangement of a pop song, some Disney, or music for film, TV and theatre. There is a balance of traditional pieces that would please any brass band afficionado with more up-to-date and diverse composers and arrangers to appeal to younger audiences. But most of all, we feel it’s most important to enjoy playing great music among friends in a welcoming environment.
Rehearsals take place from 7.45pm to 9.30pm on Friday nights at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Frimley Green. Directions are available, and check our rehearsal calendar for potential variations. Practices focus on a combination of new, in-progress and well-loved pieces of music but are generally an extremely relaxed affair: we try not to take ourselves too seriously! We think rehearsals should be a fun and sociable evening for all our members, so in addition to playing our favourite music, we take a short break in the middle of the session to have tea and a snack and to catch up with other members. While we’re playing, we are continually improving our music-making and focusing on all aspects of musical performance; members are encouraged (but not required) to take personal practice of at least two 15 minute sessions per week to accelerate our development as a band.
Camberley Band is extremely well-equipped with a wide range of brass instruments available for members to borrow free of charge – from B♭ bass to post horn! We also have extensive percussion equipment stored at our dedicated storage room, which is at our rehearsal venue. The hall itself is capable of handling a full size brass band (and more!) so everyone has plenty of space. The band library extends to nearly 1,500 pieces, excluding collected works and booklets.
The band would love to get back to full playing strength so we can take on more ambitious programmes of music, and bring the enjoyment of brass band music to more and more people in our community. If you think you may like to be a part of this, visit our website at camberleyband.org.uk or email hello@camberleyband.org.uk. You would be most welcome to come along for a trial rehearsal in the coming weeks.