On the Saturday of Easter weekend we filled Egerton Hall with music, magic, and memories during our enchanting Disney Showcase, a family-friendly afternoon event that blended live performance with interactive fun for all ages.

Running from 2:00pm to 4:30pm, the event proved to be a hit with the local community, drawing families, Disney fans, and music lovers alike. The hall buzzed with excitement from the moment the doors opened, as we set the stage for an afternoon packed with entertainment and activity. Beloved Disney characters Elsa and Ariel met guests as they arrived and were on hand for photos before the we kicked off the first set with the theme from Star Wars, an impressive and attention-
grabbing opener.

The first musical set continued with more Disney favourites, including magical renditions from The Lion King, Frozen, The Jungle Book, and Mary Poppins. Children were encouraged to get up and dance by Elsa and Ariel, and many eagerly joined in, filling the front of the hall with energy and joy.

Midway through the afternoon, the focus shifted from music to magic as local magician Chris Webb took centre stage for a full hour. The magician’s performance kept children wide-eyed and laughing, and following the show, he continued to entertain by making balloon animals and creations while we returned for their second musical set. Favourites such as Colours of the Wind, Under The Sea and How Far I’ll Go were amongst some of the tunes performed by the band and the set concluded with a rousing finale featuring the iconic Pirates of the Caribbean theme. By this stage some of the kids had been armed with balloon swords and were battling it out in front of the band.

In addition to the music and magic a colouring station offered a creative outlet for younger guests, while one of the day’s highlights was the “have-a-go” brass area, where children could try out instruments under the guidance of friendly band members. Many young attendees seized the opportunity to make their first sounds on a selection of instruments, including cornets, flugel horn, tenor horn, a trombone and a bass, with big smiles all around.

“We wanted to create an afternoon that would attract people for whom perhaps it might be the first time they have come to watch a brass band and an event that would inspire youngsters to enjoy brass music in the future or possibly even give playing a brass instrument a go.” said Nick Wilson (Solo Baritone). “It was wonderful to see so many children dancing, playing instruments, and getting involved. We were blown away by how popular this event proved to be, all the costumes that everyone had made the effort to dress up in and delighted that everyone had so much fun! We’ve had nothing but positive comments from those who attended and suggestions that people would very much like for us to put on another similar event in the future.”

We also used the event to raise funds for an exciting opportunity later this year. Following our impressive 3rd place finish at the Midlands region of the National Brass Band Championships, we have qualified to represent the town in the Finals in Cheltenham this September, where donations collected during the showcase event will help support the band’s travel and participation in the prestigious event.

The Disney Showcase highlighted not only the band’s musical talent but also our commitment to community engagement and inspiring the next generation. Brackley and District Band is proud to be part of the community and we look forward to entertaining the people of Brackley in the years to come.

For more information on upcoming events or guidance on how to take up an instrument and play in a band please contact us – brackleyband@gmail.com

You can also keep up to date on what we are up to by following our Facebook page.

We are delighted to announce that on Sunday we placed 3rd in the Fourth Section of the Midlands region of the National Brass Band Championships. We competed against 16 bands, each performing a set test piece called ‘I, Daedalus’ by Andrea Price which is based on the Greek mythological figures of Daedalus and his son Icarus and their ill-fated attempt to escape from a tower in Crete in which they were imprisoned.

The adjudicators commented “A solid and well managed performance. Good solo lines and well-constructed sections. Musical Director has a musical approach – an enjoyable performance” and “There was much to commend about this well lead performance. Confident playing, well balanced, and stylistically accurate for the most part”.

The two adjudicators felt that our performance was worthy of 3^rd place, winning the band a trophy, £100 prize-money and an invitation to the National Finals in September. This is where the top bands in the Fourth Section from each of the regions come together to see which band is the best in the country. This will be the first time since 2002 the band has qualified for the Finals.

It’s been a rather challenging run up to the ‘Area’ contest this year which makes the success all the sweeter but also poignant.

At the end of December following many months working to improve the band Clive Keech stepped down as our Musical Director. Peter Bassano who had moved into the Brackley area agreed to take the band to the contest. On the last day of January, we received news that Peter was not feeling well, an old friend and ex-player of the band Nigel Hall stepped in to continue rehearsals whilst we hoped Peter would return; less than a week later, the tragic news came that Peter had sadly passed away.

Mark Probert kindly agreed to prepare and conduct the band for the Area contest. The Friday before the contest, Witney Band conductor Guy James stepped in at our last regular rehearsal while Mark was busy finalising his own preparations for the contest with GUS band.

Sunday was a long day with our rehearsal booked for 8:30 in the function room of a social club in Bedworth. We spent a short time warming up, playing hymns, going over sections of the test piece for the last time before the contest. Then we received "the call"; Floss had managed to draw us first.

We took the stage, played the National Anthem, a benefit of being drawn first and then began our performance of ‘I,Daedalus’. We did our best and, like every other band, hoped it would be enough to achieve a good result. The rest of the day was spent in and out of the Bedworth Civic Hall both watching bands whose players, following the new borrowed player rules, have helped us and of course watching other bands.

It was a great day for the band, whilst we were saddened that we couldn’t go to the contest with Peter, we were delighted that we managed to go at all and to receive such a great result under the guidance of his former student, and friend, Mark was just reward for all the work that everyone has put in. We are very grateful and want to say a sincere thank you to all those who helped us on our journey.

We were saddened to learn of Peter’s passing on 1 February 2025. Whilst his association with the band was only for a very short time, he certainly made an impact and we were very much looking forward to going to our Area contest on 9 March 2025 under his leadership.

Peter was a remarkable musician and educator. His amazing career included travelling the world as a freelance trombone player, spells at the Royal College of Music as a trombone professor and later as Head of Music and collaborations with artists such as the Bee Gees, Pink Floyd and The Beatles. When he was hired to perform on the Beatles track “Hey Jude”, as well as playing the handful of notes required, the hired musicians were also asked to sing. It came as a great relief that the sound they were looking for was that of untrained voices!

He has written a book “Before the Music Stopped” that details his musical journey and contains many stories about his life and career, some of which he shared during rehearsals. These stories and his wit together with his natural ability to get the most out of the players is what made the few rehearsals we had with him so enjoyable and productive.

We will certainly do our very best on 9 March 2025 at the contest in Peter’s memory and our thoughts and best wishes are with the family at this difficult time.

We are delighted to announce the Peter Bassano has agreed to take us to the Midlands Regional Contest on 9 March 2025. Peter was a professional trombone player who has played all over the world with various orchestras and brass ensembles. He has also recorded for TV and film, toured with the Bee Gees and played and sang on the Beatles track 'Hey Jude'. In fact he has played, conducted and adjudicated at the highest levels. We are delighted to have him on board and we have already seen what a difference he will be able to make to the band after spending only a very short time with him to date. 

Our next rehearsal is in fact a workshop with Paul Cosh, with whom Peter has worked before, where topics such as breathing, embouchure, articulation, posture and developing an individual effective practice routine will be covered whilst working on our set test-piece for this year's contest which is 'I, Daedalus' by Andrea Price. 

There are still one or two seats we need to fill for contest day and we are always on the look out for new players. If you'd like to come and benefit from Peter's knowledge and experience and would consider joining the band then please do get in touch.