Macclesfield Concert Band

We play a broad range of light music: film scores, musicals, classical, jazz and swing, and band classics such as Sousa marches. We perform in local churches, village and community halls, shopping centres and, weather permitting, bandstands.

Macclesfield Concert Band is a community wind band whose members range in age from late teens to 70+. We always welcome enquiries from prospective players; in the first instance, please e-mail us brief details of your playing experience.

At the present time, we have a particular need for drum kit/percussion. Contact Richard Moss (01477 533764) if you would like to know more.

In September/October, we managed about eight weeks of live rehearsals with members attending on a rota system, using St Peter’s and Bethel – it meant that we could at least see each other and play in real time with each other. However, the November lockdown brought that to an end, and we held our first Zoom rehearsal at the beginning of December before returning to live rehearsals with an everdwindling pool of players (due to the introduction of the Tier system).

Our usual Carols in the Stableyard at Tatton was cancelled this year, but we did manage to play carols in Victoria Park on the Sunday before Christmas – I hope this cheered people up and it was good to see some other members of KEMS attending this event as well.

From January to May, we had to ‘rehearse’ using Zoom. In addition to trying some improvisation, this gave the band members (and a few other KEMS members) an opportunity to play Mozart and Beethoven overtures and other classical repertoire which we would not normally play as a band. By May, we had built up quite a large ‘repertoire’ which we could all play perfectly! We started with over 20 members ‘Zooming’ but numbers dropped off as we continued. Thanks to Richard Moss for giving me a few weeks off in April but still keeping the rehearsals going for everybody. I know online delivery of rehearsals did not suit everyone, but it was the best we could do in the circumstances.

As I write this in May 2021, we have now been back at rehearsals for four weeks and it is heartening to see that most of the band wish to come back to live rehearsals, but I am looking forward to being able to press the delete button on our rehearsal rota spreadsheet at the earliest opportunity!

Andrew Tyler has decided to step down from the Committee – my thanks to him for his time on the Committee and all his hard work managing our last tour.

Many organisations have not been able to have any live rehearsals this year, because of restrictions on venue capacity and availability. We have been extremely fortunate that the management of St Peter’s and Bethel Baptist Church have allowed us to use their buildings and were very helpful in getting us back to rehearsals.

Working through the Risk Assessments and Protocols we have had to put in place and act upon was time-consuming and tedious, sometimes draining the energy and focus away from the actual musicmaking we were trying to achieve. Here I wish to record special thanks to Tim Ward, Richard Moss, and the management of both churches for all the hard work involved in enabling us to rehearse for at least some of this year.

Thanks to all the band for their help, support, compliance with the protocols we put in place and many very kind messages throughout this year. I hope that the band has provided some musical and social respite through this incredibly challenging year.

CONTACTS

You can contact the band committee either by email (click on the name) or by telephoning the Secretary.