A WORLE band, which has close to 100 performances under its belt, is arranging celebrations for its fifth birthday and has plans for a future concert tour.
The WorleWind Band has come a long way since its first rehearsal on January 14, 2010, when 18 enthusiastic players turned out to perform despite a bad snowstorm.
But word spread quickly and the band now boasts nearly 50 musicians, from ex-military bandsmen to social workers, engineers to osteopaths and company directors to maths teachers.
The group rehearses every Thursday at Milton Methodist Church Hall, in Milton Hill, and musical director Julia Ractliffe said: “We try to do something a little out of the ordinary every year. Last year we went away for a weekend of music-making.
“It was part team-building, part serious music and part socialising and everyone enjoyed it so much we’re now under pressure to produce something even better this year.”
Trumpet player Julia and her French horn-playing husband Andy had played in a wide range of bands in Devon before their move to Worle.
Julia said: “One of our previous bands specialised in light, popular music and we wanted to continue in that vein, so we decided to put the word out and see what happened.”
An article in the Mercury, and word of mouth, resulted in the WorleWind Band’s first rehearsal and now it is in huge demand for its repertoire of well known tunes.
The band’s tunes range from standard swing music, hits from stage and screen to popular classics from the 20th century.
It has also supported charities including Children’s Hospice South West, MacMillan Cancer Support, Worle Baptist Church’s Albania project and Rotary charities.
Both professional and amateur musicians give their time for the pleasure of making music and their dedication has been recognised by grants from Weston Town Council and the Mayor’s Fund.
As well as formal concerts, the band can regularly be seen and heard at Weston’s Grove Park Bandstand during the summer months and its next concert will be at St Paul’s Church in Weston on March 21 at 7.30pm.
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