Schedule Update

The Cold Ash Play Day has been postponed and will now be held on January 8th 2017

The AGM has been moved to Friday November 4th to allow more time for discussion without the pressure of an imminent concert

Rehearsal and Performance Dates

Autumn Term 2016

Rehearsal dates

Sep  2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
Oct  7th, 14th, 21st 
Nov  4th, 11th, 18th, 25th
Dec  2nd, 9th, 16th

Saturday 15th October - Concert, St Mary's Thatcham, 7.30pm Rehearsal 2.30 - 5pm
Friday 4th November - BWO AGM in break
Friday 2nd December - Band Social
Friday 16th December - Christmas Concert, Beenham, 7.30pm
Sunday 8th January - Cold Ash Playday, 10 - 4pm, Acland Hall

Our Next Concert

Saturday 15th October 7.30pm



Beenham Wind Orchestra invites you to “Be Our Guest” “On a Dark Night” to stay “One Jump Ahead” of the crowd. Bring along the “Bear Necessities” and maybe “A Friend Like Me” to experience “A Whole New World” of “Looney Tunes”. “For the First Time in Forever” you can catch the “Pink Panther” and witness “Colonel Hathi’s March”. Even though “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down”, you can “Let it Go” and “Be Prepared” for the “Baby Elephant Walk”. So why not join “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin” and the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” for a magical evening of “Cartoon” music.

This concert will be held at St Mary’s Church, Thatcham, RG19 3PN

and is part of Thatcham Festival of the Arts

Ticket prices £10 in Advance, £12 on the door

Under 18s £2
From Band members, Lily's Boutique, Kingsland Centre, Thatcham

St Mary's Mortimer

A programme of well known and well loved pieces including 'The Pink Panther' and 'Moon River', some memories from WW2, a tribute to Louis Armstrong and medleys from those great musicals  

'South Pacific' and 'West Side Story'. 

Stratfield Mortimer: St Mary the Virgin : The Street, Stratfield Mortimer, Berkshire, RG7 3NU

Reviews from 2016 Fete Performances

Letter of Thanks from Englefield Flower Show 

I attach a letter of sincere thanks to you and the orchestra for the huge contribution you made to the success of our flower show - yet again!.

We are truly grateful that you were able to assemble the orchestra at a time of summer holidays for many and we thoroughly enjoyed a superb and highly approriate programme of toe tapping music.

12 August 2016 

Thank you and all your wind orchestra members so much for playing again at the Englefield Flower Show this year. The orchestra makes an enormous contribution to the event and you create a wonderful atmosphere for everyone to enjoy.

It has become a tradition that we seem to have incredible luck with the weather and this year was even more remarkable given the miserable May and June.  The wet spring and cloudy early summer could be one reason for the relatively low number of entries we had for the show categories, with the exception of the children’s classes. The committee is looking for fresh solutions to the problem in good time for the 2017 show.

 Never the less attendance on the day was again good and our treasurer says that the receipts on most of the stalls were up compared to last year which will all help to produce next year's show.  Certainly the atmosphere in the glorious sunshine with the orchestra playing and the crowd strolling around had all the hallmarks of a classic village fayre and everyone seemed to have a good time.

So many thanks for all you do for us and I hope you will be available to play again next year.  Please do let me have any comments or improvements you think we could make and I will pass them on.

All Best wishes,

Chris Gittins
Administrator
Englefield Flower Show

Padworth & Aldermaston Wharf Craft & Produce Show

21 July 2016

Thank you for your beautiful music on Saturday, I have heard nothing but positive feedback regarding your Beenham Wind Orchestra, congratulations.

Please thank your very clever, talented and beautiful sounding team.  The music was perfect.

Thank you 

Jenny Lacon

Phyllis Court Members Club - Henley Regatta

3 July 2016

Please pass on our thanks for the wonderful entertainment you gave to our members and their guests. It really added to the atmosphere at the Club.

Michelle White

Membership Manager

A few comments about the Concert

• We thoroughly enjoyed the concert on Saturday evening and very much appreciated our prize tickets (and the unexpected bonus of a complimentary glass of wine each!).  Please do pass on our grateful thanks to those concerned. The programme was such a delightful mix of music, much of it new to us.  The piece incorporating tuned wine bottles was great fun and I particularly enjoyed the opening piece - Phillip Sparke's "Concert Prelude" - which was really spine-tingling.  The blend of instruments and the standard of skills you have now in the orchestra produces an amazing sound and we are so lucky to be able to enjoy music of this calibre in our own locality.                                                                                                   Dianne Rogers - Competition Winner October Concert

• Great concert last night, we both enjoyed ourselves as did the people we brought along.     Band Member

• Please accept many thanks from my wife, Penee, and I for inviting us to your superb concert last Saturday at Thatcham.We both thoroughly enjoyed the selection of music and the excellent playing by your Orchestra. 

          What talented group of musicians. 

          Councillor Keith Chopping 

Winds in Time 3

Great Music from Great Composers

The third in our series of concerts exploring the history of Wind Band music from its beginnings in the 19th century, we have now reached 

1950 to 2000

St Mary's Church, Thatcham

Saturday 19th March, 7.30pm

Around about this time in the history of Wind Band music things start to get a little adventurous. This concert includes Eugene Bozza's Children's Suite, (described as French-Nursery-Rhymes-meets Petruchka) and David Bedford's Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves, a wonderfully descriptive title of a beautiful piece that includes tuned wine bottles in its percussion section, Guy Woolfenden's Gallimaufry of tunes inspired by  Shakespeare and Martin Ellerby's Paris Sketches, four snapshots of the French capital from the bustle of Les Halles to the quiet of Pere Lachaise. An exciting programme of music.

Tickets in advance £10 (Concessions £8, U18s £2) from Orchestra members or Lily' s Boutique in Thatcham
or click on the Buy Tickets button below.

On the door £12 (or £10 and £2 respectively)