St John’s & Highwoods Community Centre – 1st Class Brass https://1stclassbrass.org Colchester based band for brass players of all ages and abilities Sun, 16 Aug 2026 17:17:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 https://1stclassbrass.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-logo1-32x32.png St John’s & Highwoods Community Centre – 1st Class Brass https://1stclassbrass.org 32 32 Summer Season 2026 https://1stclassbrass.org/summer-season-2026/ Sun, 16 Aug 2026 17:05:05 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?p=33329

The band started their summer season back in May playing for the residents and their families at Alderwood Care Home in Colchester.

The weather was glorious and the choice of music was much appreciated.

The following month saw the band return to Blomfield House Care Home, part of Colonia Court in Colchester. The band has played at Blomfield House for several years, both in the summer and at Christmas so it was lovely to see some familiar faces amongst the residents.

As has become tradition over the last few years, the last rehearsal of the academic year was the “summer shirt” rehearsal followed by pizza and board games.  After working really hard in the rehearsal (in quite warm temperatures!) the band enjoyed socialising and playing board games to round off the academic year. 

On the 10th July the band held their Summer Concert at St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre. 

The band played a varied programme of music, ranging from a piece by Handel to a tuba solo called “Little Ted’s Tuba” plus music from stage and screen. 

Our annual awards were also presented at the concert. Congratulations to:

Bandsperson of the Year – Lillian

Player of the Year – Orla

John Kaley Special Recognition Award – River

Most Improved Player – Bethany

Best Attendance – Lillian

Summer Term Star Player – James

The band finished their summer season on 1st August, holding their Summer Workshop at St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre. 

The workshop was open to all brass players, regardless of age or experience and a great range of music was played.  There was also time during the day to work in teams on a quiz and a game, before performing the pieces the band had learnt to family and friends at the end of the day.

The band is now on a break until rehearsals restart on 11th September.

]]> Christmas Concert https://1stclassbrass.org/event/christmas-concert-4/ Fri, 04 Dec 2026 19:00:00 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=31679 Our Christmas Concert will feature a broad range of pieces, with something for everyone.
Raffle and retiring collection.
St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre
Highwoods Square
Colchester
CO4 9SR
http://www.highwoodscommunitycentre.co.uk
Plenty of parking
]]> Summer Workshop https://1stclassbrass.org/event/summer-workshop-3/ Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:15:00 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=31676 A day of music making, fun activities and games open to all brass players, regardless of age or ability.
St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre
Highwoods Square
Colchester
CO4 9SR
10:15am – 3:45pm *
£10 per person – for more information and to book a place then please contact Anne on anne@1stclassbrass.org or 07880 591757.
It’s advisable to bring your own packed lunch (although Tesco is a few minutes walk away) and if possible please bring a music stand.
* There will be an open rehearsal at 3:15pm so family and friends can come and listen to what the band has been rehearsing during the day.
]]> £700 Charity Donation https://1stclassbrass.org/700-charity-donation/ Sat, 07 Mar 2026 17:28:50 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?p=30444

The band welcomed Rebecca from St Helena Hospice to their rehearsal on 6th March.  Rebecca is the Community Fundraiser for the hospice and was happy to come along to the rehearsal to tell the band a little bit about the work that the hospice does.

The band decided to donate £700 to St Helena Hospice from the money they raised from carol playing last year. 

The band members enjoyed hearing about the work that the hospice does and Rebecca then stayed and listened to the rehearsal.  The band hopes to support St Helena Hospice again in the future.

]]> Easter Workshop https://1stclassbrass.org/event/easter-workshop-3/ Wed, 08 Apr 2026 09:15:00 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=30402 A day of music making, fun activities and games open to all brass players, regardless of age or ability.
St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre
Highwoods Square
Colchester
CO4 9SR
10:15am – 3:45pm *
£10 per person – for more information and to book a place then please contact Anne on anne@1stclassbrass.org or 07880 591757.
It’s advisable to bring your own packed lunch (although Tesco is a few minutes walk away) and if possible please bring a music stand.
* There will be an open rehearsal at 3:15pm so family and friends can come and listen to what the band has been rehearsing during the day.
]]> Christmas Season 2025 https://1stclassbrass.org/christmas-season-2025/ Sat, 07 Feb 2026 14:02:05 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?p=30271

The band had a busy Christmas season performing at their own Christmas Concert, Wivenhoe Congregational Church and Blomfield House Care Home.

The Christmas concert was held on Friday 5th December at St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre.  The band performed to a good sized and appreciative audience and played a varied programme of Christmas favourites. 

The following Friday, 12th December saw the band return to Wivenhoe Congregational Church for their annual carol service.  This is always a lovely event with an enthusiastic congregation and there’s something special about the band accompanying community singing. 

Finishing off a busy weekend, the band played at Blomfield House Care Home on Sunday 14th December.  The band has played at Blomfield House for several years now and usually performs for the residents and their families in the summer and at Christmas.  A smaller sized band is the perfect fit for the lovely bay window!!

Besides the more formal concerts the band was also out carol playing, raising money for St Helena Hospice, The Nick Alexander Music Trust and band funds.  The band played at Waitrose Colchester (twice), Tesco Highwoods and Sainsbury’s Stanway.  The band is very grateful to these supermarkets for letting us play at their stores. 

Home | St Helena Hospice

The Nick Alexander Music Trust

Waitrose – Sunday 7th December

Waitrose – Saturday 13th December

Tesco Highwoods – Monday 22nd December

Sainsbury’s Stanway – Tuesday 23rd December

With such a busy Christmas season, the band social had to wait until January.  The band held their “Concert for Us” and pizza and board games night on 30th January.  The “Concert for Us” is a chance for any members that would like to, to perform a solo, duet or as part of a small group to a supportive and appreciative audience. 

The band are now rehearsing hard for their Spring Concert on Friday 27th March.  Spring Concert – 1st Class Brass

]]> Summer Concert https://1stclassbrass.org/event/summer-concert-4/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=30015 Our Summer Concert will feature a broad range of pieces, with something for everyone. The annual awards will also be presented during this concert.
Raffle and retiring collection.
St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre
Highwoods Square
Colchester
CO4 9SR

http://www.highwoodscommunitycentre.co.uk
Plenty of parking
]]> Spring Concert https://1stclassbrass.org/event/spring-concert-3/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 19:00:00 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=29620 Our Spring Concert will feature a broad range of pieces, with something for everyone.
Raffle and retiring collection.
St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre
Highwoods Square
Colchester
CO4 9SR
http://www.highwoodscommunitycentre.co.uk
]]> Summer Season 2025 https://1stclassbrass.org/summer-season-2025/ Sat, 13 Sep 2025 15:31:40 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?p=27287

We returned to rehearsals yesterday evening, preparing for the Autumn season but here’s a look back at what we got up to over the summer!

We started our summer season playing at the St. Leonard’s Church Fete in Lexden on Saturday 28th June. It was a really well attended event and we were very grateful to Jemma for conducting the band as Anne was unavailable.

Friday 4th July was the final rehearsal of the academic year and we held a social afterwards where we played board games and enjoyed pizza.

A week after our performance at St Leonard’s Church Fete, we returned to Blomfield House Care Home on Saturday 5th July to play for the residents.  It’s always a lovely event and we were lucky with the weather, as although the sky looked very grey, it remained dry!

Our formal summer concert was held on Friday 11th July at St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre. 

We played a varied programme of music including music from stage and screen, Glenn Miller, Sea shanties and the concert finished with a rousing performance of Land of Hope and Glory, with much flag waving from the audience (and some band members too)!

During the concert the annual awards were presented.  Congratulations to:

Summer – Star Player for Summer Term

Beckett, Lillian & Orla – Best Attendance for 2024/2025

Beckett – Most Improved Player

Suzanne – Player of the Year

Maria – Bandsperson of the Year

Vic – John Kaley Special Recognition Award

Our final event for the summer was the workshop held on Monday 4th August. The workshop was open to band members as well as non band members and there was a great turn out of players.

The day mainly consisted of rehearsing but there was also a game and a quiz. The band performed a short concert to family and friends at the end of the day. 

We then enjoyed a few weeks break before resuming rehearsals on Friday 12th September. 

]]> Summer Workshop https://1stclassbrass.org/event/summer-concert-3/ Mon, 04 Aug 2025 09:15:00 +0000 https://www.1stclassbrass.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=25939 A day of music making, fun activities and games open to all brass players, regardless of age or ability.
St John’s and Highwoods Community Centre
Highwoods Square
Colchester
CO4 9SR
10:15am – 3:45pm *
£10 per person – for more information and to book a place then please contact Anne on anne@1stclassbrass.org or 07880 591757.
It’s advisable to bring your own packed lunch (although Tesco is a few minutes walk away) and if possible please bring a music stand.
* There will be an open rehearsal at 3:15pm so family and friends can come and listen to what the band has been rehearsing during the day.
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