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The Band has had a good and settled time since the area with a second at Buxton, some really good quality
concerts and a few very damp summer jobs. Two new members have joined the band, Liz Grosvenor and
Danny Hatton, Liz has added strength to the trom section by sitting 2nd and Danny has added strength to the
back row by taking over the top 3rd cornet spot allowing Matthew Evison the previous incumbent, to return to
his long absent home in the Bass section taking the 2nd EEb bass seat.

The Band had hoped that their successful relationship with Mark Bentham would continue into the finals,
however, Mark ‘s commitment to taking Hepworth Band to the Open and the RAH finals made it impossible for
this to happen. The Band would like to wish Mark and Hepworth well in these competitions.

As the Band had plenty of notice that Mark would be unavailable a short list was drawn up, Richard Evans was
on the top and when asked, accepted the invitation straight away, Band Manager Jon Evison had this to say, “I
had spoken to Richard on a number of occasions prior to this with a view to arranging him coming over and do
master classes and workshops for us so when I realized Mark Bentham might not be available I asked Richard
and he was only too pleased to throw in with us”. The band has already had a couple of practices with Richard
and both band and conductor are very happy with each other.

The band is very excited about qualifying and is really enjoying playing ‘’Imperium’’. Garry Oglesby, Resident
Conductor, “ The band has continued to work hard since winning the area contest once again this year,
showing utmost dedication from the players – we have had no Summer break and even rehearsed on Easter
Day – such is the dedication of the players. As the band resident I would like to thank Mr. Fraser for giving me
a wonderful summer reading list and a characteristic and lyrical piece which we have enjoyed working on. It is a
privilege to hand the reins over to Richard and be able to watch him rehearsing the band. We are all looking
forward to the finals and to performing ‘’Imperium’’ .

The Bass Section are particularly looking forward to christening in anger their recently delivered York Basses,
they had previously been playing on four old Besson 700’s and to Quote one of their number, “the old basses
were really only student instruments, they were non compensated and pedal notes were something you tuned
with a spanner! Mine leaked so badly I attended practice in a pair of wellies, all that now seems like a long
forgotten nightmare, these new instruments are the ‘’dogs bollocks’’ (you may need to edit that)”!!

Other news, the band have just moved into a brand new band room giving them 24/7 availability of practice
times, this room has been acoustically tuned by the band and they are settling in well. Jon Evison again, “ Its
been our desire to have our own home and when this opportunity arrived we jumped at the chance, it has made
the job of running both Town and Youth Bands so much easier that we now have more time and energy to
devote to our core activities”. In fact, after this moves the band are now able to start a Community band,
something they have been planning for about a year but were unable to resolve the room availability issue.