Committee for 2015

The band AGM was held on 9th March 2015, and the following members were elected to the Committee for 2015-16:

Chairman: Stuart Smart
Secretary: Howard Roberts
Treasurer: Andy Maddams
Musical Director: Shaun Pope
Other committee members: Rhiannon-Jane Smart, Kate Winters


We are also pleased to announce the worthy recipient of the Billie King Memorial Award, our wonderful principal cornet player Vicky Atkinson is the new Queen of the Band.

Notice of AGM

The Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 9th March 2015 at 8.00pm, during which we will be electing the committee for the year ahead, and presenting the King of the Band award. Rehearsal as usual, before and after the meeting.

Opening for a Principal Euph

As our players and followers know, Manea Silver Band aims to offer something fresh in the Fens. 

We are a non-contesting band, preferring instead to focus on our fun, innovative concert programme.  It’s a great place to let your hair down and we have several members who also play for First Section bands. 

Following our relaunch in 2011, the band is growing fast, adding 11 new players in the last 2 years!  2015 promises to be exciting times for us, with some great gigs to be announced soon, including our first foray into music festivals!

Sadly, our Principal Euph player Malcolm has recently retired, so we have an opening for a Solo Euph.

If you’d like to be part of a traditional brass band with a cheeky modern twist, we’d love to hear from you.  

Why not have a look at our website or join our Facebook group and see what you think? Or better still come along on a Monday evening and have a blow with us – all players welcome. Contact Shaun – md@maneasilverband.co.uk – for further details.

MSB And The Shed of Dread!

It was with some trepidation that we brushed the cobwebs aside and ventured into the chilly gloom.  

We’re looking to build our junior band this year, but with many of our more frequently used instruments already out on loan there was only one thing for it – time to delve into the band’s long-untouched instrument stock in ‘Billie’s Shed of Dread’!

But what a cornucopia of delights awaited!  A band geek’s dream of weird and wonderful instruments from all different eras and continents, some beautifully engraved, some masquerading as scrap metal, some downright bloody awful, but almost all playable!

RJ's not too sure this one's a keeper!

We’re really proud of our learners at MSB and recent years have seen a steady stream of youngsters moving through the band.

But we know that a musical instrument is a big investment for a family, so as well as the lessons being free we also offer our learners an instrument on loan for as long as they need it, until such time as they decide to buy their own. 

We now have a lot of cleaning and TLC to perform on these poor neglected objects, but soon they might bring joy to someone’s life again.

But crucially, an instrument only comes to life if there’s someone to play it! 

Newsflash! Howard Trom also does buttons!

At MSB we pride ourselves on bringing music to the local community and making learning an instrument accessible for all.  By continuing to offer free music lessons, we hope to bring brass banding alive for the next generation of musicians.  

So if you or your kids want the chance to learn to play a musical instrument for free then get in touch! We know there’s a treasure trove of talent out there just waiting to be found and polished up!

Waiting for love...

Our learner classes are currently on Mondays, 7pm at Manea Methodist Chapel, before band practice.  Contact secretary@maneasilverband.co.uk for more info.

MSB on tour!

It's Butlins Mineworkers time again!

This year a grand total of 16 of our players, friends and family are headed to sunny Skegness to enjoy the best of brass - a record!

MSB is a non-competing band, but the annual pilgrimage has become somewhat of a band tradition in recent years.  We go to make friends, maybe have the odd pint ( ;) ) but above all to be inspired and awed by the thriving brass band community and the vast spectrum of entertainment it has to offer.

We also have players taking part in the charity Trombone Choir on Saturday night, and in the Gala concert on Sunday, this year performed by the formidable ladies of Boobs & Brass, an all-female brass band raising money for breast cancer research.

With all this going on as well as evening entertainment from top class brass-based acts, it's shaping up to be a cracker!

If you're going, look out for us in the bar, or you can follow our brass-fuelled (and no doubt increasingly incoherent...) antics on Twitter, @ManeaSilverBand #MSBOnTour