During the early years the band went on several trips abroad visiting Dorsten, Crawley’s twin town in Germany, Gyula in Hungry, the Ukraine and to Rome, performing jointly with the Military Police Band (Banda dell'Arma dei Carabinieri) outside the Pantheon. In England the band has twice been up to Lincolnshire to join with the Sleaford Concert Band in the Proms Concert at the Heckington Agricultural Show. The band have also been fortunate enough to perform in joint concerts with the military bands including The Band of the Royal Marines. The band were also privileged to play on the bandstand in Queens Square Crawley for the late Queen Elizabeth 2nd on the occasion of her visit to Crawley in November 2006.
We have had four works of music specially written for the band “Crawley - Pride of Place” fanfare, which opened the band’s inaugural concert, “Crawley Diamond” to celebrate Crawley Town’s 60th anniversary celebrations, “Tim’s World” in memory of one of our clarinet players who tragically lost his life in a car accident (and to whom we have an annual award dedicated to) and “Jubilee Suite” to celebrate our 10th anniversary.
In 2011, John Fisher the Founder and Chairman moved to Lincolnshire (though he remains the band’s Honorary President) and shortly after Sally Hartley resigned as Musical Director to spend more time with her family. And so, a new era began and the band continued to perform regularly under the chairmanship of Judy McMahon and several Musical Directors who for various reasons such as relocation and other commitments were not able to provide long tern commitment. However, they each brought something new to the band which continued to grow and increase its repertoire. As a result, the band participated in concerts with other Sussex bands: The Massed Bands Extravaganza in 2013 with Adur Concert Band and Bognor Regis Concert Band at Worthing Assembly Hall, a joint concert with Surrey Police Band at Dorking halls in 2015. Later that year we took part in another Massed Bands Extravaganza this time at the Hawth Theatre with Adur Band and Second Wind from Kent.
In 2017 we appointed the talented Marc Yarrow as our Musical Director and he continues to inspire the band to even higher levels of performance drawing from his experience as an International Performer, Conductor and Musical Director. One of Marc’s first concerts was at the Hawth as the band took part in Crawley Town’s 70th celebrations with other Crawley Artists. The band has also collaborated with his other musical groups including Pzazz singers and in concerts involving a local school.
There are currently 36 active band members, 8 of whom have been with the band since its inception and another 12 who have been members for 10 years or more.
We play an exciting range of music from Rock to Jazz, Classical to Military, and Dance to Show music. With a music library of almost 300 pieces, there is something for every occasion. There are regular concerts in Crawley, Horley and Horsham as well as band stand, community and charitable performance events such as St. Georges Day, Armed Forces Day in Crawley, Summer in the Park in Horsham and Eastbourne Band Stand Proms Night as well as an annual Christmas Fundraising Concert for Pancreatic Cancer UK, a charity close the bands hearts. Over the years through our concerts we have also supported other local charities such as St Catherine’s Hospice, Crawley Open House, and Horsham Food Bank
To celebrate our 25th anniversary we are presenting a special concert at St Wilfrid’s School in Crawley on Saturday 21st June at 7pm to mark the occasion. The music will span the 25 years of our existence with items from the inaugural concert to some of our favourite pieces of current music. There is also going to be a new piece commissioned especially for the band. Tickets will be available to purchase on the door but also by using an online link available on the band’s social media pages and website.
As a community band we meet regularly on a Monday evening at the Ifield West Community Centre. We are very happy to welcome new members especially those who play brass instruments, bassoon or percussion.
