Sounds of Christmas 2012

For the second year running BCB held it’s Sounds of Christmas concert in the DeVere Suite of the iconic Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth.

The event was again supported by UK insurance company Ansvar Insurance and local insurers Colemans. The band traditionally donates the profits from its Christmas concert to charity and the beneficiaries this year were Diverse Abilities Plus and Life Education Wessex.

Guests were entertained by the St Mark’s Primary School choir with carol singing from 6.30pm in the wonderfully decorated Grand Lounge. Parents joined with ticket holders to enjoy a variety of carols from the children who splendidly set the festive scene for the evening ahead.

Moving through to the atmospheric DeVere Suite the audience settled for the concert. The march – “The Carollers” set the tone for a varied and festive concert. This year’s program was compered by Richard Washington who kept the evening flowing between the musical items. The band featured two of its soloists during the concert. Alfie Hughes on cornet and Rachel Bartlett on Flugel. The band was led on the evening by its resident conductor, Bill Willis.

During the interval the band mixed with the audience to enjoy mince pies and drinks.

One of the audience emailed a few days later to say... “You were kind enough to leave me a ticket for this concert and just have to say...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I have never heard a band in person that were so precise and together and listened to each other to make a sound that was round and solid and technical, very few bands actually feel the music they just concentrate on the technical...Bournemouth Concert Brass have certainly captured this. A few times I had tears in my eyes. So thank you once again it was a privilege being in the audience for this evening concert”.

The band is pleased to report that it has been able to pass on £880 to the two charities.

New friends and contacts were made on the evening and the band hopes that it can continue to develop relationships with local businesses and support local charities.

We look forward to seeing you in 2013 and wish you a happy and prosperous new year.