Petworth Town Band offer rousing and inspiring Remembrance concert

Petworth Town Band are promising their “biggest and best” band ever as they offer a very special new concert.

Transcript

00:00Good morning. My name is Phil Hewitt, Greek Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Always lovely to

00:07speak to Martin Streeter, who is the bandmaster of Petworth Town Band, and you're doing something

00:12a bit different this year. You've got a lovely sounding concert coming up in St Mary's Church.

00:17Petworth Town Band is Petworth Remembers, 80 years on, commemorating the NVJ Day, October the 25th.

00:26Now, it's breaking new ground, isn't it? It's a new type of thing that you're doing, isn't it?

00:31This is a new type of concert we're actually putting together, and we're trying to make this

00:37a real community concert and include various organisations within Petworth to take part,

00:46and these people will include the church, St Mary's Church Choir, the vicar of St Mary's Church,

00:54Father Gil, Father Mark, the town crier. He will be our narrator for this concert, and giving

01:03some insight into the pieces of music we're playing. And we're also including the Royal

01:13British Legion standard bearers of Petworth and Billingshurst. Now, the concert is in support of

01:20the British Legion poppy appeal, and we intend, within the concert, to put a section of music

01:29into their, just as a remembrance, set of music. And we think that is very, very important,

01:40important, and during which the standard bearers will dip the standards. And hopefully, this will

01:51really work out nice, and people will appreciate.

01:56Yeah, and the lovely thing is, you're saying you want this to be the start of a tradition,

02:01to go alongside the parade and the church service each day.

02:04True, yes, yes. So in future years, we would like to repeat this, but maybe do different

02:11things, include different organisations within Petworth, and sort of develop it along those

02:18lines into a real community remembrance concert, which will go alongside the very well-supported

02:28Sunday parade and church service for remembrance.

02:32Well, it's a lovely idea, and it's great timing too, because as you were saying, you've never

02:37had more players in Petworth town band. You're in a good place as a band, aren't you?

02:42We are. We've got, we will have a band of 32 playing in the church on the 25th of October.

02:48It's the, it's the biggest band that we've ever had, probably.

02:54That's quite something.

02:55Yeah, it is, certainly in the last 50 years, and not only the biggest band, it's probably

02:59the, well, it is the best band we've had. We've been very, very fortunate to, to attract

03:06some experienced players that have come along and joined us, and the experienced players

03:13bring, bring along the, the less experienced players, and we, and those people learn a

03:19lot, just by sitting next to well-seasoned musicians, and it's just snowballs, and the

03:26band is doing really, really well.

03:28Brilliant. Well, it sounds a fantastic new initiative for the town. Good luck with it,

03:32Martin.

03:33Yeah.

03:33As always, really lovely to speak to you.

03:35It's Petworth Town Band, Petworth Remembers, St Mary's Church, October the 25th. Great to

03:42speak to you.

03:42Thank you very much, Phil. Thank you.

03:44Thanks.