About us...
Welcome to the home page of the West Midlands Concert Band. Be sure to also press on more on the navigation banner for lots of photos and band blog.
We are a group of about 50 musicians who rehearse weekly on Thursday evenings (7:30-9:30) in Wolverhampton. We perform around 15 concerts every year at concert halls, churches, band stands and local fetes.
We are a group of about 50 musicians who rehearse weekly on Thursday evenings (7:30-9:30) in Wolverhampton. We perform around 15 concerts every year at concert halls, churches, band stands and local fetes.
- If you are interested in booking a band please click here.
- If you would like to come and listen to the band, click here to see where you can hear us next.
- If you would like to play and join the band click here
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History
We stayed at Darlington Street until November 1999 when we re-located to The Newhampton Centre in Wolverhampton, and then the YWCA in Penn. We currently rehearse at St Bartholomew's Church Hall, Church Hill, Penn. We have entered the National Concert Band Festival twice, achieving a Bronze the first time under the baton of Stuart Mallen and a Silver the second time with Craig Sproston at the helm. Click here to hear the band. We were formed from a group of players who were previously with the Wolverhampton Community Concert Band which used to rehearse at Highfields School in Wolverhampton under the baton of David Gray. That band ceased to exist following the withdrawal of funding by the Adult Education Service in September 1992. We then moved our |
rehearsal venue to Darlington Street Methodist Church hall and later acquired a new musical director , Derek Craft. Dougie Graham took over as MD in 2011, with a wealth of experience with the Royal Marines Band, as the Bandmaster for both the Band in Scotland and more recently as the Bandmaster of the Royal Marines Band based in Portsmouth. He worked steadily to improve our range, balance and dynamics and we were sad to see him leave in summer 2017. We warmly welcomed James Wykes to be our conductor and continue to enjoy his direction.
