A 'brief' history
The band originally started as a youth band in 1981 under the inspiration of bandmaster Martin Davison. In 1990 the British Army invited the band to form as the voluntary band of the Army Air Corps based at Middle Wallop near Andover, who at the time had no regimental band. The band accepted and in a short space of time doubled its membership by recruiting experienced musicians from all over the south coast of England from Dorset to Portsmouth becoming the Voluntary Band of the Army Air Corps
These commitments escalated when in 1991 the Gulf War commenced and the majority of full time army regimental bands were called up for active service in Kuwait and Iraq.One of the most prestigious engagements involved performing for HRH the Prince of Wales and HRH the Duke of Kent.
As part of national defence cuts in 1993 the Army decided to rationalise its regiments and disband the volunteer band in order to create a full time regimental band that combined several other serving regimental bands. Undeterred by this, the band set out to continue its music making and reform once again as the Wessex Military Band.
The Ministry of Defence repaid its gratitude to the band by providing financial assistance in reforming as the Wessex Military Band and allowing the band to use the recently decommissioned ‘Wessex’ regiment emblem with its distinctive Wyvern and the band started to perform at international music festivals all over Europe and representing the UK on many different occasions. The band continues to perform at over 40 engagements annually and has a strong base of members of all ages and abilities, ranging from absolute beginners to ex-military musicians and music professionals.
When, in 2006 it's bandmanster, Martin Davison retired to Austria the band was fortunate to have in its ranks people willing to take over the day to day running of the band and several extremely experienced conductors willing to take the helm. Martin remains part of the band and continues to run things.
The band is recruiting for woodwind, brass or percussion players between the ages of 14 and 80 who live in Dorset, East Devon, South Somerset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Portsmouth and Southampton.
The band performs a mixed repetoire of music including:
• Full Marching Band
• Concert Wind Band
• Bavarian Band playing traditional German beer keller music
• Brass Band
• Traditional Swing Band
With such a large geographical spread the band holds no regular rehearsals, members are therefore expected to be of a proficient musical standard. Rehearsals are usually held on the day of concerts. The band is fortunate to have several practising music tutors within its ranks and can offer private tuition at a cost to those keen to join but not confident at sight reading (depending on location).
• There are no annual fees to pay
• The band will provide all uniforms and has a large store of instruments that can be borrowed
• The cost of trips abroad is heavily subsidised by the band, therefore the band only charges a small administration charge. Typically four trips in a year will be less than £150
• Transport is available to most engagements with four minibuses in service from different areas.
The band understands players may have commitments to other bands and therefore operates a flexible attendance policy. We typically expect members to attend a minimum of 10 engagements a year that can be freely chosen by the player. More importantly, new members can expect to join a fun and sociable group that enjoy making music.
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