A community wind band based in Croydon, south London
The band will celebrate it's 40th anniversary in the 2012-13 season.
Our next concert is on Wednesday 8th February at Trinity School, Croydon.
Our previous summer concerts have been in early July at St John's Smith Square or the Fairfield Halls, Croydon.
The inaugural rehearsal of the Croydon Symphonic Band took place on 12 September 1973 the first conductor being Jack Davis, a fine oboist with the Irish Guards. When Jack left to work in the north of England, three other conductors stepped in temporarily over a period of five years before David Cox took over the baton for the Band's 8th season in 1980.
In 1989 the Band entered the Regional festival of the National Concert Band festival. After obtaining Bronze awards at the festival during the early 1990s, the Band achieved its first Gold award at a Regional festival in 1993 and was invited to the national finals in Manchester, which took place the following year. The Band was awarded a Gold award at the festival and lan Giles, our euphonium player, was presented with an award for the Most Outstanding Instrumentalist. Further Gold Awards were achieved at the national finals in 1996 and 1997 when Sarah Hornsby (piccolo) and Tim Baldwin (percussion) were also presented with the Most Outstanding Instrumentalist award.
In 1994 the Band accepted an invitation to visit Heidelberg, Germany from the Mauer Musikverein. This link was strengthened when the Mauer band visited Croydon in 1996 and performed a concert with the CSB at Fairfield. The CSB returned from another successful visit to Germany in May 1998. The status of the CSB as one of the leading community bands in the UK was recognised in 1997 by an invitation to perform a concert in Canterbury at the conference of the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles when the Band also premiered the first performance of Prayer and Eastern Dance by Duncan Stubbs.
The CSB presently comprises 60 or so players of all ages and standards who attend our regular rehearsals on Wednesday evenings at Christ Church Hall, West Croydon. Throughout our 27 years we have never held auditions and all woodwind, brass and percussion players are welcome to attend our rehearsals.
Other composers who feature regularly in our concerts include Phillip Sparke, Adam Gorb, Guy Wolfenden and Martin Ellerby.
All are welcome to join.
Rehearsals are on Wednesdays in school term time at Christ Church, Sumner Road, Croydon, CR0 3LJ.