HITCHIN CONCERT BAND celebrates its 20th anniversary at the end of 2015. It was originally formed as a result of a number of adult amateur musicians who had met and played at one of the many courses at Benslow. Since its formation, the band has grown to some 40 members and has flourished, meeting every second or third Sunday evening, under its conductor Alison Eales.

The band's ethos is essentially one of a large group of friends meeting to rehearse and perform music for the pleasure of doing so, often meeting socially after rehearsals and on other occasions. Band members also form informal groups to play chamber music in each other's homes.

The band has a wide and varied repertoire which it continues to broaden and expand, embracing styles ranging from jazz to classical music from the shows as well as works and arrangements made especially for the band.

Hitchin Concert Band performs locally twice a year and toured Sussex for three successive summers, performing on Eastbourne Bandstand as well as in Brighton Pavilion Gardens and Hastings. The band has toured Catalonia and Tuscany, performing in several prestigious venues. We also performed on three bandstands in Paris in 2007, 2008 and 2010. A further Spanish tour took place in 2012 and the band performed in Belgium during a 2014 tour.

Concerts have included an appearance at the Gordon Craig Theatre as part of the Stevenage Festival, which also featured the Kingshott School Band. The band also performed at a fund raising event at Cockhampstead near Braughing in support of the Leukaemia Society which raised £1,245 for leukaemia research. In 2010 Hitchin Concert Band was honoured to appear in St Mary's Church as part of the Benslow's 80th birthday celebrations. More recently the band has appeared twice at a community event in Sheffield and Foxholes nursing home in Hitchin.

The band welcomes new members and can accommodate a wide range of performing abilities. To view our current vacancies please click here.