Welcome to
Bicester Concert Band

Bicester’s community concert band

About Us

Bicester Concert Band has played an important role in Bicester life since its inception twenty years ago. As well as arranging two of its own concerts every year, it has featured at the Bicester Christmas Lights Ceremony, at Thame’s Remembrance service, and at many local fetes and charity events. Every year, in all kinds of weather, it has played on the bandstand in Garth Park for the Bicester Festival, and has played in St Edburg’s Church during their Christmas Tree Festival.

The band is available for bookings in Bicester and the surrounding area. We have a varied repertoire and can tailor music to suit most occasions. If you would like to find out more about booking the band, do get in touch via the contact form or email us directly via info@bicesterconcertband.org.uk.

Our History

Bicester Concert Band started life as ‘No Strings Attached’ in 1996 when a small group of keen musicians, supported by Bicester’s Adult Education Centre, began meeting in a cookery room at The Bicester School (or, as it was called then, Bicester Community College). They were soon lucky enough to recruit the services of Trevor Jones as their conductor. He was a local music teacher and a former member of the RAF central band. Under his leadership the band went from strength to strength and soon outgrew the school cookery room.

A change of name to Bicester Concert Band, and a change of venue to the delightfully refurbished St Edburg’s Church Hall heralded further growth for the band, which became a regular feature at local civic events. A link with Bicester Choral and Operatic Society was established, and joint Christmas Concerts in a candle-lit St Edburg’s Church were a highlight of the Band’s year.

After conducting the band for 10 years, Trevor left to move to new projects in 2006. It was with great relief that an equally inspiring conductor was found to take the band into its second decade. Philip Burditt conducted the band until 2017.

The band is currently led by Wendy Marks, and is enjoying something of a revival under her leadership. New members are joining and standards are raising as the band works hard to improve its ensemble playing.

Our Conductor

Wendy Marks, a Graduate of the Guildhall School of Music, is a talented woodwind teacher and conductor. Besides BCB she also conducts West Oxfordshire Winds (WOW), West Oxfordshire Clarinets (WOC), West Oxfordshire Learners (WOL) and Freeland Orchestra. Primarily an oboist, she performs regularly with many local orchestras and groups including The Oxford Sinfonia, the Cotswold Chamber Orchestra and the Pavlova Quintet. She also enjoys playing Double Bass and often performs with the Radcliffe Orchestra and St Giles Orchestra.

Join Us

Over the last two decades Bicester Concert Band has provided all of its members with a nurturing environment in which to improve their skills. We have always welcomed players of all abilities and, by practising and home as well as attending the weekly rehearsals, we have all found our playing has improved.

While we would still like to accommodate all players, these days we tend to work on more challenging music, and new members find it more rewarding if they have enough playing experience to be able to sight-read our easier pieces, and to play harder pieces by putting in some practice at home in between rehearsals. We do not expect perfection (we’d all have to leave if that were the case!), but a certain amount of playing experience is desirable.

If you are interested in joining the band, do get in touch. We invite potential new members to come along for a couple of sessions for free, so that they can find out if we are the sort of music group that they are looking for, and so that we can be sure that there is a place for them in the band. At the moment we almost have our maximum of forty members, and therefore for some instruments we operate a waiting list. More brass players would be particularly welcome however!

Subscription fees are £60 a term for those in work, or £40 if in full-time education, unemployed or retired.

News

Contact Us

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Band rehearsals take place every Tuesday in term time in the superb acoustic of St Edburg’s School hall, Kingsmere. We meet at 7.15pm in order to set up and be ready to play at 7.30pm, we finish at 9.30pm and we have a half-time break for coffee and a chat.

St Edburg’s School is located on the Kingsmere development in Bicester. From the A41, turn into Pioneer Way just by the Premier Inn. Continue straight ahead, passing, on your right, the entrance to the shops. When you reach a crossroads, turn left to stay on Pioneer Way. The school will be on your left.