Harmonie Concert Band

31 January 2010
We will be doing a sponsored rehearsal for CLIC Sargent cancer charity in March - date to be confirmed.

The committee has agreed that we will now rehearse every Wednesday night up to and including 7 April. There will be no rehearsal on 14 April, but it'll be business as usual on 21 April.

Our AGM will be on 12 May. If any band members want to join the committee, please speak to an existing committee member.

6 January 2010
Not again! Due to the weather, tonight's rehearsal is cancelled. Hopefully, we'll get this season started next Wednesday. In the meantime, of course, band members could just rehearse at home on their own for two hours this evening...

20 December 2009
Apologies for cancelling last night's performance. This was not a decision we made lightly, but after several conversations we felt that the icy road conditions would have put many people off. We also considered our band members traveling to the venue from various parts of south Essex and we felt that side roads in particular were likely to still be iced over and potentially a hazard. The road to the church itself was icy, cars were having problems getting up it and the pavement was described as treacherous (not having been gritted). Taking all aspects into account and not wanting to ruin anyone's Christmas with the possibility of injury, we decided to cancel. We are sure this was a disappointment to all, but we believe the decision to cancel was the sensible course of action. Our sincere apologies for any confusion or inconvenience - in future, we'll try to make sure we update this site in advance - and we do hope to see you at one (or more!) of our concerts during 2010.

1 November 2009
This page has fallen into disuse - just slightly - over the past few months. Time to dust things down and bring us up to date with some of the major news over the past 6 months:

As part of The Bernstein Project, organised by The Southbank Centre, Harmonie will be performing a joint concert with Lewisham Concert Band, at the Clore Ballroom in the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 10 April 2010, to celebrate the life of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th Century, Leonard Bernstein . Composer, conductor and educator, Lenny (as he became affectionately known) inspired musicians and audiences around the world through his performing, writing and presenting. Our programme will feature music by Bernstein (sorry, I can't bring myself to call him “Lenny”) as well as music by other composers closely associated with him. This is a very exciting opportunity for the band, and could well be the highlight of our next year's performances. Deflinitely not one to miss!

We had a very successful and enjoyable Rehearsal Day back in October, working with the renowned Philip Sparke on some of the pieces he has written for Wind Band. This rehearsal really helped us to prepare for the National Concert Band Festival, which takes place in Colchester on 29 November.

We're participating in the National Concert Band Festival in Colchester on 29 November! We've done this twice before and on both occasions earned a well-deserved silver.

We achieved registered charity status, thanks mainly to Penny's persistence and work.

2 April 2009
Band members - please note there is no rehearsal next week or the week after (Wed 8 and 15 April), as we take our well-deserved break. See you all back on the 22nd, when we'll have just two weeks to perfect our repertoire before our busy summer season kicks off.

1 February 2009
The Essex Community Foundation has recently awarded us money for new music for this year's programme. Essex Community Foundation was set up in 1996 and has established a grants programme which has seen more than 3300 Essex based charities and community groups receive over £10million in grants. Funds are distributed on behalf of a wide range of donors who want their charitable giving to be accessible to local charities. www.essexcommunityfoundation.org.uk

30 November 2008
Harmonie played at the National Concert Band Festival in Colchester, and again achieved silver. There was no hint of a sympathy vote, either, as this time, our chairman did not fall off the stage.

12 October 2008
Harmonie held its annual rehearsal day on Sunday 12 October. Renowned composer and conductor Malcolm Binney led us through some of his own compositions, in a friendly and enlightening way. Harmonie will play one of these pieces - Charivari - at the National Concert Band Festival in Colchester. And it will sound so much better now!

8 October 2008
Harmonie helped raise over £700 with our concert at United Reformed Church, Rayleigh on Saturday night. A very impressive performance!

21 September 2008
Harmonie will be participating in this year's National Concert Band Festival at Colchester. We last took part in this in November 2005 where the judges awarded us a very creditable silver. This time we hope at least to match that, and possibly even to improve.

6 July 2008
Tickets for our next concert are now on sale. It's on Saturday, July 19th at Rayleigh Mill, in aid of Little Havens Hospice and St Martin's Residential Care. Tickets are priced at just £8 (concessions £6). If you're interested, just drop us a line and tell us how many you'd like.

Also, if you want to join our mailing list for Friends of Harmonie, just send an email as well, and we'll be sure to keep you informed of our activities.

12 May 2008
We had our AGM on Wednesday of last week (7 May). And we now have an exciting new chairperson! She'll be supported by some of the long-standing stalwarts on the committee as well as by the newly-elected committee members, and it's only a matter of time before we all feel the effects... See The Team to find out who's on the committee.

30 March 2008
We're taking the next two weeks off. There will be no rehearsal on Wed 2 April or on Wed 9 April. See you all back on the 16th!

23 March 2008
Our concert schedule for 2008 has been updated. Starting on 4 May, we'll perform 8 concerts by mid October. See our concerts page for full details.

The date for our AGM is now set. It will be held on Wed 7 May.

16 December 2007
We’ve finished our Christmas concerts now, and got some really good feedback from them. In addition to the enthusiastic applause and comments on the night, one member of the audience emailed to say:

“We thought that the evening was absolutely brilliant. We thoroughly enjoyed the playing and selection of music, especially the numbers of items played. Extremely well done to everyone involved. We also enjoyed the in between items of explanations by the band master rather than the cracking of silly jokes as so often happens.”

10 September 2007
Our concerts at the Essex Country Show were very well-received. This was our first time at this event and we got a lot of positive feedback from the audience. We played on both the Saturday and Sunday of the show. Hopefully, this will become a regular event for the band.