A huge thank you to all who attended our Summer Soirèe concert at Starplex on the 6th of March! This was our first band-organised concert since our Friday Night Live in 2021, and we loved getting back to playing to our own live audience, complete with a raffle and other prizes. It was also a fantastic opportunity for the band to dress up, with this years theme being a formal black and white affair. Costumes really do make every concert better!

It was an especially magical evening for Musical Director Conor and his flute-extraordinaire partner Hilary as Conor beautifully engaged to her onstage before the final tune of our set. Congratulations to both of them – just goes to show what happens when you miss our shows! Conor also announced his retirement as Musical Director. While we are sad to see him relinquish this position, the band is excited to see what the future holds with our next Musical Director, Harry Lange, while Conor continues to be a valued member of the band as one of our saxophonists. We thank him sincerely for his work over the past five years.

We had a lot of fun as a band  and it was great to play a wide variety of music for our audience, including many charts we had never performed before. Just a few of our highlights included:

  • Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Michael Sweeney) – An arrangement of three pieces from Modest Moussorgsky’s fantastic Pictures at an Exhibition suite, featuring some very grand and powerful passages that were perfect to open the night.
  • A Tribute to Gershwin (arr. Jack Bullock) – A medley of several pieces by George Gershwin, an American composer whose jazz and classical compositions from the 1910s – 1930s left a huge influence on the future of music. You’d probably recognise some of these pieces, like I Got Rhythm, Rhapsody in Blue, Swanee, and more.
  • An American Trilogy (arr. Goff Richards) – A true GTB classic, famously performed by Elvis Presley. We have played this piece on several occasions, and it is undoubtedly one of our favourites. It spans the entire dynamic range from whisper quite to blow-the-house-down loud, and it’s melodies and harmonies especially in the incredible finale of the piece are simply beautiful.

We once again thank all the attendees, including those who bought tickets for a raffle, which proved very popular! The money gained from this concert will go a long way in developing our band and allowing us to explore new opportunities. Check out our Gallery to see some great photos from the night, and stay tuned to our social media and Live Dates page to see where we’ll be next. We have lots of exciting events in store for this year, and can’t wait to see you at our future shows.