Support Pendennis Brass this Christmas

Pendennis Brass is a local community brass band based in the beautiful town of Falmouth, Cornwall. 

We are currently raising funds to help towards the formation of our upcoming training band, as well as to provide support for the upkeep and maintenance of the main band. 

Your support this Christmas will enable Pendennis Brass to continue making music and bringing joy to the local community. 

Image: Members of Pendennis Brass enjoying carolling in Falmouth, December 2021

Why are we crowdfunding?

Our main aim this coming year is to re-instate our training band. This is something that we are very keen to pursue, as this will provide an opportunity for children to be offered free music tuition, an instrument to learn on while they are with the band and a great social experience. We therefore require funds to be able to purchase and maintain instruments, hire a training venue and to support the running of rehearsals and lessons. Playing music is shown to greatly enhance a child’s academic abilities and with a lack of Government funding for the arts, it is up to community groups like us to pick up the slack.

As well as setting up our training group, the band itself encounters large running expenses, normally costing over £4000 per year which includes rehearsal venue hire, MD fees, insurance and instrument repairs. The band is beginning to look forward to an exciting calendar of events in 2023. We hope that with your support the band can continue to bring joy to the local community through our various events, providing benefits for audiences and players alike. 

Image: Pendennis Brass playing at the Sea Sunday Parade in Falmouth, July 2022

How can you help?

The band will be delighted with your support, whether that be making a financial donation or buying a reward. Big or small, each donation will be received most gratefully.

Rewards: Wanting to get into the Christmas spirit? Why not have Pendennis Brass come and play your favourite Christmas carols on your doorstep or street to spread the Christmas cheer? See our rewards section for more information.

You could also offer an item or service that we can add to our reward page offering to raise money for the band. 

How do organisations like us provide opportunities to local young people? 

So many current professional musicians around the world owe their careers to community ensembles like Pendennis Brass. Our musical director is a perfect example:

Ben first joined Pendennis Brass in his early teens, after learning the cornet playing with the City of Truro Brass Band. During his time with Pendennis Brass he also gained experience playing principal trumpet with the Cornwall Youth Wind Orchestra, as well as depping with many Brass Bands throughout the county. 

In 2014, Ben used this experience to be accepted into the Royal Marines Band Service as a solo cornet player. He then underwent 3 years of intense training at the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth before being drafted to the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Plymouth in September 2017, where he remains today. This career has given Ben a wealth of musical experience in many different ensembles, genres and styles. It has also allowed him to travel the world, performing as far afield as the Falkland Islands and Dubai and given him the opportunity to obtain a fully funded music degree. He now brings this experience and energy back to Pendennnis Brass, with the hope of providing similar opportunities to people of all ages today. 

Image: Pendennis Brass playing a summer concert at Falmouth Princess Pavilion after winning ‘Best Band’ at Bandamonium in Devon, July 2022

About Pendennis Brass

Pendennis Brass was formed by Glyn Thomas, a former Royal Marine Musician, in 1980.  We have been entertaining audiences in and around the area ever since. The band have also provided free music tuition and inspiration for local people, both young and old, with many youngsters who learned brass or percussion with Pendennis Brass going on to pursue careers in music.

We are always welcoming new members to our organisation, so please feel free to get in contact with us if you are interested in getting involved.

History

Falmouth, with its magnificent harbour and bay attracts 1000s of visitors each summer and over the years these holidaymakers have also enjoyed many brass concerts in the superb Gyllyndune Gardens on a Sunday afternoon. 

Before the second world war, Falmouth Town Band (now Pendennis Brass) enjoyed a successful period playing at the national championships at the famous Crystal Palace in London and this continued well after hostilities when they qualified to play at the Royal Albert Hall. To crown that achievement the band were also invited to play in the evening concert with four other bands, one of which was the famous Black Dyke Mills band. 

The early sixties saw the band struggle and eventually disband. The town was without its own band then until 1980 when former Royal Marine bandsman Glyn Thomas took over a local hostelry and decided to reform the band. Hard work began with fund raising to get instruments, music and uniforms together and after a relatively short time the new Falmouth Town Band were up and running. Sponsorship from well-known entrepreneur Peter de Savary enabled the band to change its name to Pendennis Brass, its current title. 

Under the baton of Glyn Thomas, Pendennis Brass made their mark on the contest stage with many successes at the local CBBA contests and West of England Bandsmen's Festival at Bugle in Cornwall and they also reached the national finals at Wembley, Cardiff, Preston and Torquay. 

When Glyn finally hung up his baton, further success came under the stewardship of Steve Thomas with further national appearances at Harrogate and twice at current venue, Cheltenham. Another event the band enjoys and has been very successful is the SWBBA Entertainment contest at Exmouth in Devon, where their excellent choreographed programme has been widely anticipated.

For over 30 years the band have been popular participants in the annual RNLI Christmas concert, and another popular festive event is the annual 200 club shindig.

Image: Pendennis Brass rehearsing for the annual RNLI concert at Falmouth Princess Pavilion, December 2021

Pendennis Youth Band

In 1998 Glyn and Arthur Allen began Pendennis Youth Band, with Glyn teaching music theory and Arthur taking over as conductor. As the youth band progressed, members were fortunate to have Shaun Thomas, acclaimed euphonium player with the Sun Life Band, return to his roots in Cornwall where he began offering one to one lessons to the youth band members. By 2000 many of the members had progressed into the senior band, taking part in National Final visits. Sadly, Shaun Thomas passed away in March 2005, leaving his students (now grade 8 standard) deeply upset. 

One of the band’s main goals looking forwards is to re-instate our youth/ training band and allow the next generation of youngsters to have access to this fantastic resource.