24 Mar 2024
Members of Wantage Academy Brass tell us all about the band, and why they enjoy being members
Wantage Academy Brass are the third tier contesting band in the Wantage Silver Band organisation, led by musical director Nikki Jones. They currently compete in the 4th Section of the National Championships and have recently moved up to 8th position in the grading table.
They generally contest in the Regional Area contest in March and at least one other contest, usually Entertainment, later in the year.
Academy Brass are one of the mainstay Wantage bands, alongside Community Brass, for entertaining the public at events such as fetes, market place concerts and carolling. They also perform more formal concerts a few times during the year, the highlight being their joint concert with Wantage Youth Brass every Summer. This year the date is set for the evening of Saturday 6th July at St Michael’s Church in Abingdon.
They comprise of a variety of players - youth players on their journey to higher contesting bands, mature players that no longer wish to compete at higher levels, players from Community Brass that also want to compete to improve their overall standard of playing, and other adults wanting to play at this level. This provides a fluid band that has some regular personnel change but Nikki manages to keep the band at a steady level of proficiency for competing while choosing a fun repertoire of music to keep the players engaged.
Through careful direction and teaching all players progress for the benefit of the band and organisation.
There is a great camaraderie between players and they all chip in with organisation, whether it be getting percussion to performances or sorting out music. Occasionally throughout the year, they get together for a picnic lunch to catch up on life outside of band rehearsals.
Members of Wantage Academy Brass