St. Sebastian Wokingham Band rcently held its 3rd annual Mayor's Charity Concert in support of the 'Me 2 Club', which aims to provide one to one support for children with special needs in the Wokingham area.

French flavour

The concert raised approximately £1,000 from a full house and featured music with a particular French flavour in the first half, including 'Shepherds Song', 'The Swan' and 'March' from 'Le Prophet' to welcome guests from Wokingham’s twin town of Viry Chatillon.

We were really encouraged by the positive comments from many members of the audience who noticed how the band had progressed over the year...Chairman Damon Emes

New members

The concert also provided the opportunity to formally introduce new members such as James Kelloway as Bandmaster, who will deputise for regular MD Andrew Porter while he is busy with his army bandmaster training course at Kneller Hall.

Derek Hawkins, Stewart Lewins and Llewellyn Wells, all join the cornet section.

Awards

During the concert the Mayor presented the band’s annual awards to Kathryn Rooke-Matthews, Dave Meekings and Damon Emes for 10 years service. Damon was also presented with the Bandsman of the Year Award and James Kelloway the Musician of the Year.

Encouraged

Damon Emes, Chairman of the band told 4BR: "We were really encouraged by the positive comments from many members of the audience who noticed how the band had progressed over the year to be able to perform a such challenging programme with great confidence and musical precision."