wem Jubilee Band put on a stunning performance as it celebrated its 40th anniversary.

The months of planning paid off as the senior and training ensembles performed to a full audience at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Wem, which provided the perfect backdrop and acoustics.

Nick Heron and his team provided all with a very warm welcome and an open invitation to return in the future.

As ever, the soloists were flawless in their performances and were a credit to the band.

Aimee Hawke performed Demelza on the soprano cornet and Salliann Latinovic performed Goodbye to Love on the tenor horn. Both soloists really showed off their talent and other individual performances on the day demonstrated the depth of talent around the band.

The choice of music, carefully selected by musical director Roger Thorne and skillfully compered by BBC Radio Shropshire’s Eric Smith, reflected the history and achievements of the band over the years.

Performances of The Rose, Paganini’s Playtime, Memory, Zulu and The Floral Dance were popular choices with the band and audience.

In recognition of his commitment to the band over the past 30 years or so, Roger Thorne was presented with a special gift by founder member Nobby Johnston.

The training band once again performed with great enthusiasm and were a great source of pride to their conductors, Aimee Hawke and Ruth Wilson and tutor Clare Evans.

Music including The Muppets and
I Don’t Know How To Love Him were well received and the encore of Do Re Mi was designed as a tribute to both the senior band and to Roger as being a piece of music key to the history of the band. Ruth and Clare made a small presentation of a baton to Aimee in recognition for her restarting the training band on her return to Shropshire.

There is no rest for the band as they are straight back into rehearsals to prepare for the Wychavon Festival of Brass on Saturday, October 28.

The band will also be holding its annual meeting on Friday, November 10 at 7pm in the bandroom for any interested parties to attend.

n Further details from secretary, Ruth Wilson on wjbsecretary@outlook.com