Bisham Concert Band is made up of local people who enjoy making music together, and we love to share our joy of music with others through concerts and other performances.
We are busy providing musical performances in our local area and beyond, with a mixture of indoor concerts and outdoor events held throughout the year. In the summer season, we play on a number of bandstands and provide live music at community events, including regular favourites Nether Winchendon fete and Cookham Regatta. We have a very popular Christmas concert every year in Stokenchurch. Some of our concerts are organised in conjunction with local charities as fund-raising events.
The band also goes on tour. We have toured abroad, but more recent tours have been in the UK. Recent tours have been to Bournemouth and Lymington, and Hastings and Deal.
We are a Concert Band, which means that we play wind instruments, both woodwind and brass, as well as a range of percussion and a string bass.
We pride ourselves on being friendly and supportive, and aim to be a happy, friendly band showing compassion and consideration to each other. Our members cover a wide range of ages and backgrounds.
Less concerned with formal playing qualifications, we are keen to attract committed musicians willing to help us move forward. The current repertoire, which is broad based, requires a playing level equivalent to Grade VI or above.
Please see our Join Us page for specific instrumentation, but we are always keen to hear from any player: woodwind, brass or percussion.
Our History
The Band was founded in the early 1970s by Trevor Steventon as the Maidenhead Youth Centre Concert Band. In the late 1970s the band moved to Bisham School, where Trevor was teaching music, and the band was renamed The Bisham Riverside Concert Band. A few years later, Trevor Steventon retired and passed the baton to William T. Higgs.
The Band continued to grow in numbers and in 1998 it moved to the Wycliffe Centre in Horsleys Green, near Stokenchurch. As there was no local river, the named changed and Bisham Concert Band was born. Since then the Wycliffe Centre has been sold and redeveloped, requiring the band to move to Stokenchurch Primary School and then to its present location in Studley Green.
William T. Higgs retired in 1998, passing the baton to Beatrix Taylor who conducted the Band until 2006. From Autumn 2006 the band played under Colin Ridgers (ex Band of the 8th Hussars and REME Staff Band) followed by David McLellan (ex Band of the Irish Guards) and continues to go from strength to strength under Michael Pegram who joined us in October 2012.
Our Musical Director
In 1977 he was accepted for the 3 year bandmasters’ course at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall. He emerged with top honours, including the conducting prize and the coveted Worshipful Company of Musicians’ medal for the best student bandmaster. In 1980 he was appointed bandmaster of the Royal Regiment of Wales and later transferred to the 9th/12th Royal Lancers.
Michael is an established arranger & composer for band music and has worked both on radio and tv. He has also adjudicated brass and wind band competitions in England and Wales.
He was formerly Musical Director of the RAF Halton Band, an appointment he held from 1990. He was at one time an examiner for brass at Trinity Guildhall in London.
See more about the band on our Facebook page.