About WCB



The Werneth Concert Band was formed in April 1983 with the object of providing local wind and brass players with an opportunity to play together for their own enjoyment and that of the public. We are based in Romiley, near Stockport, England, holding weekly rehearsals at Bredbury Green Primary School. We give about ten concerts a year at a range of venues including the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music and also performances at conferences held by the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles (BASBWE).

We are a true Community Band in that we accept all players of reasonable ability and are self-financing apart from occasional grants from local organisations, Stockport Council and commercial sponsorship for some concerts. We have over 60 members whose ages range from teenage to over 70 and, naturally, the ability of the players varies too, from the teacher and ex-professional musician to the enthusiastic amateur.

We play a variety of music from the Symphonic Wind Band repertoire, ranging from arrangements of classical music, through selections from musical shows, to the light and popular. We also introduce new wind-band music to our audiences from time to time, and have comissioned specially written pieces for the band on several occasions.

Over the years we have commissioned various composers to write music, including "El Espiritu de Cataluñia" by Ray Woodfield, written for our tour of Spain in May 2000, and A Werneth Celebration, written by Darrol Barry to commemorate the band's 25th anniversary in 2008.

From time to time we also record some of our favourite pieces. We now have 3 CDs

Our ventures into competitive music have resulted in our appearance in the finals of the Boosey & Hawkes National Concert Band Festival on a number of occasions, the first being at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon, in 1987. Subsequently finals have been held at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and in 1993 and again in 1997 we received a Gold Award in the Community Band class and received a Silver Award on every other occasion we appeared in the Manchester finals.

We have also enjoyed a number of overseas tours to Germany, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Jersey, playing in various venues. We are currently planning for our 2010 tour (back to Spain!).

We are run by a committee elected each year at the Annual General Meeting and as well as the organisation of the musical activities the committee also organise social events for the band and it's friends.

Since 2008 we have also run a Swing Band, mostly made of members of the existing Concert Band, playing swing and big band music from the 1920s to the present day. The band has proved extremely popular and a few numbers were included on the last WCB CD, "A Werneth Celebration".

There is more information on our activities over 25 years in our History Section