Petworth Town Band are looking for new recruits

Petworth Town Band are looking for new recruits as they work towards their spring concert at St Mary’s Church, Petworth on Saturday, March 23 at 7.30pm.
Martyn StreeterMartyn Streeter
Martyn Streeter

The concert will also feature the Farlingtonic Choir. Tickets will be £8 on the door, and a cash bar will serve wine and soft drinks.

Bandmaster Martyn Streeter and his wife and band musical director Paula would love to bring in some new players. They are a little below the ideal numbers at the moment.

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“We are doing OK, but like everything, you go through changes and we could do with some new players,” Martyn said. “We would welcome brass players as well as woodwind. We are not the traditional brass band or concert band, but we are a band that really enjoys what it does. We would welcome anyone who is interested whatever level they are at. We can provide teaching which is all free of charge.

“We would be particularly keen to get some youngsters along. We have found in recent years that the parents of the youngsters come along themselves and stay for longer than the youngsters who will go off to university or wherever. But the parents get back into it because perhaps they have played an instrument in the past and discover that they are enjoying getting back to it. We have had some good successes with people in their 20s, 30s and 40s coming along and picking up with instruments again.

“We have got some gaps at the moment, second cornets, solo cornets and trombones. I think that we if had another half a dozen players, that would be really good. But it really doesn’t matter if we get more, but really half a dozen would be great. At the moment we have got about 25 players and that’s a little bit under what we would want. The main thing is that we would welcome everybody.

“We play a variety of music. It is not just the traditional brass band music. It is modern poppy-type music and show music and film music. We play the classical stuff and we also play the upbeat stuff that the youngsters tend to enjoy as well.

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“We meet on Mondays at Petworth House, once a week. Lord Egremont is our president. The Egremonts have supported the band for many, many years.

“We usually play two to three concerts a year, but we also do quite a few engagements throughout the year. We do fetes and weddings and all sorts of engagements.

“We used to be very busy just during the summer, but now we are pretty busy throughout the whole year. Over Christmas and December, we must have played something like a dozen engagements.”

Anyone interested in joining the band should get in touch with Martyn at [email protected].