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Thoughts from the Chair - Bill Connor

“The object of BASBWE shall be to advance the status of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles in the
United Kingdom, and the education of the general public”.

Dear all, after a two year hiatus here’s all our best wishes for your continuing artistically, professionally, personally,
the new WINDS magazine for the end of music making and composition. Finding financially, we approached various
this extraordinary year of 2020! a replacement has proved very difficult! musicians, composers, conductors,
So, HELP!...is there anyone out there practitioners posing the question “What
As Chairman I apologise profusely for willing to take on the role of have you been up to in Lockdown, and
the absence of the magazine that is part Membership secretary? how has it affected you personally and
of our contract with you, our paid-up professionally?”
membership. Some of you who have Get in touch!
received this magazine and are reading Many thanks to all who responded
this might say; hold on I’m no longer Despite the absence of WINDS, we have and as expected a huge range of
subscribing so how come...? And that indeed been active, meeting, planning, creative responses were received in
requires apology no.2, as chair, there’s commissioning, supporting concerts, these strange, surreal, alarming,
no getting away from it, in the chase for week-ends, clinics, schools visits, liberating, fearful, exciting, confusing
doing stuff I’ve taken my eye off a very interactions with various bands across times; (and many variations thereof
important ball; membership, and the country, promotion of BASBWE we’ve all heard over the last 7
months). It’s also a time that forces a
consequentially income. internationally via ECWO (more of that
re-addressing of things we might have
later) and WASBE and NCBF at the
taken for granted; the artistic way of
John Holland our membership secretary RNCM, and continuing to engage with
life, not just for musicians but for any
of many years resigned in 2018 to focus, local communities across the country.
creative individual of whatever artistic
quite rightly on life and composition persuasion as a result of the suspension
and much else besides! Many thanks for In this edition of WINDS, given the of day to day life as we knew it!
the years you gave to BASBWE John and limbo in which we all find ourselves

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