Welcome To The Bedford Town Brass Band Website
New and visiting players are always welcome
About Us
BedfordTown Band was established in 1894 and is currently a charitable organisation (Charity No. 1173181) located in Bedford.
The charity promotes traditional English brass banding and musical arts, by means of concerts, contests and other related activities. Through its various musical groups;
it educates members and prospective musicians of all ages in the skills, art and science of playing brass band music and instruments. It has an extensive music library with over 3000 works to perform and has instruments available for loan to band members who don’t own their own instrument.
Rehearsals take place throughout the week in the Primary Hall, Castle Newnham School, Polhill Avenue, Bedford, MK41 9DT.
Information about the individual music groups is available via the band links above.
The bands can be booked for a variety of public and private events and they perform at band contests, entertainment concerts, school and village fetes, church services, carols and charity fund raising events throughout the year.
If you are interested in becoming a member of one of the bands, would like to attend a rehearsal, or would like to book one of the bands for an engagement please contact our Band Secretary.
Upcoming Events
The bands have a busy schedule of performances throughout the year supporting local organisations and events.
Apr 2026
Concert Brass
26th @ 15:00 – 17:00 St Marks Church, Bedford – MS Therapy Charity Concert
May 2026
All Bands
9th @ 15:30 – 17:30 – Castle Newnham School, Bedford – All Bands Concert
Town Band
17th @ TBA – St Pauls Church, Bedford – Civic Service
Concert Brass
29th @ All day – Oldham, Lancashire – Saddleworth Whit Friday Band Contest
July 2026
Town Band
18th @ 18:30 – 20:00 – Bedford Town Bridge, St Mary’s St, Bedford – Bedford River Festival Concert
Concert Brass
4th @ 17:00 – 18:00 – Old Warden Airfield (Shuttleworth), Biggleswade – Triumph Stag Car Club Concert
19th @ 11:00 – 12:30 – Bedford Town Bridge, St Mary’s St, Bedford – Bedford River Festival Concert
Aug 2026
Town Band
2nd @ 15:00 – 17:00 – Mill Meadows Bandstand, Bedford – Concert
Progress Brass
1st @ 2:30 – 16:00 – OakWay House, Bedford – Concert
Sept 2026
Town Band
6th @ 15:00 – 17:00 – Parsons Close Bandstand, Leighton Buzzard – Concert
Oct 2026
Town Band
10th @ 15:00 – 17:00 – Putnoe Heights Church, Bedford – Concert
31st @ All Day – Wychavon Festival Of Brass, Evesham – Band Contest
Concert Brass
3rd @ TBA – Priory Church, Bedford – Annual Concert
Nov 2026
Town Band & Concert Brass
8th @ 10 am – Embankment War Memorial, Bedford – Remembrance Service
Dec 2026
Town Band
5th @ TBA – Putnoe Heights Church, Bedford – Christmas Concert
Concert Brass
12th @ 18:30 – 19:30 – St Marks Church, Bedford – Carols In The Car Park
21st @ TBA – Wixams Retirement Village, Bedford – Christmas Carols
Progress Brass
18th @ 18:30 – 19:30 OakWay House, Bedford – Christmas Concert
Latest News
-
All Bands Concert
Join us on Saturday 9th May to enjoy a wide range of music from Town Band, Concert Brass, Progress Brass and Academy Brass, with some combined pieces across the bands.
All income from our ticket sales will be donated to the PTA of Castle Newnham School, our current home and the concert venue!
Tickets £10, free for under 18s
-
MS Therapy Centre St George’s Day Charity Concert
Bedford Town Band Concert Brass will be performing a Charity Concert in aid of The Bedford MS Therapy Centre, on Sunday 26th April 2026, 3pm at St Mark’s Church, Calder Rise, Brickhill, Bedford, MK41 7UY.
Tickets (Adults £12, Concessions & Accompanied Children under 12 £2.50) available form the Bedford MS Therapy Centre of online at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/bedfordmstherapycentre/2070810 .
Price includes cakes and tea/coffee.
-
Bedford Town Band -London & Southern Counties Regional Contest
Bedford Town Band are happy to report a respectable result of 7/14 at the London & Southern Counties First Section Regional contest last Saturday 21st March!
It has been a tough few months of picking apart the same piece of music at every rehearsal, but we were proud to walk onto the stage at Stevenage Arts & Leisure Centre to represent Bedford
A special thanks to our MD, Craig Patterson, for all his hard work in getting us ready
Congratulations to all bands that took part last weekend!
Be sure to keep an eye out for the exciting concerts being put on by the Bedford Town Band organisation in 2026
-
Bedford Town Band Notice:
A permit was granted to Susan Blunt (STR 64 2024 112) to hold a street collection on behalf of Bedford Town Band within the area of Tesco, Riverfield Drive on 24 December 2025. £757.80 was collected, of which no money was appropriated on account of expenses and payments incurred in connection with the collection.
A permit was granted to Susan Blunt (STR 64 2025 111) to hold a street collection on behalf of Bedford Town Band within the area of Tesco, Riverfield Drive on 13 December 2025. £660.42 was collected, of which no money was appropriated on account of expenses and payments incurred in connection with the collection.
We would like to thank the people of Bedford for your generosity over the Festive Period. Your donations enable the band to survive, and allow us to provide free music tuition to the children of Bedford.
If you have a child in Year 2 or above, who would like to take up free lessons to learn a brass instrument, please contact us on askbedfordtownband@gmail.com
Our History
Bedford Town Band was formally formed on 13th April 1894, completed its first public engagement in Bedford the following month and entered in its first Contest (in Luton) on 18th August that year, winning two prizes (one reportedly for its playing of a quickstep, the other for its rendition of ‘Elixir of Love’).
The Band quickly became well established and in 1896 organised its own Contest. It was reported that 17 Bands entered and that some 1500 members of the public attended. The Band was popular and successful in the first half of the 20th Century but went through something of a fallow period after the Second World War, struggling initially to reform and, once it did, although continuing to compete, languishing for the most part in the lower sections.
That changed, though, and Bedford Town Band as we know it today took shape following the appointment of Mr Terry Hext as Musical Director, an eminent trombone player and Head of Brass Teaching in Bedfordshire. He took over the Band in the Fourth Section in 1974, but oversaw a meteoric rise that, in successive Regional Finals between 1977 and 1980 saw the Band crowned champions of the 4th Section, champions of the 3rd Section, runners-up in the 2nd Section, and then champions of the First Section. The Band competed predominantly in the Championship Section until Terry left the Band in 1988, since when it has largely been a First Section Band, although has found itself in the Second Section for the last 3 years.
In 1994 the Band celebrated its centenary and held a concert to celebrate in the Bedford Corn Exchange. This was conducted by the Tenor Horn virtuoso Gordon Higginbottom, with guest stars Roy Castle and Steven Sykes, and Simon Groom as compère. The Training Band and Second County Wind Band shared the stage, and the event was recorded for 3 Counties Radio.
The band ran several successful Masterclasses in conjunction with the Music service, where the band organised stars from the brass playing world such as Roger Webster, Steve Sykes, Gareth Small, Sheona Wade, Bob Childs, Paul Mayes and David Thornton.
The year 2000 was an important year for the band. It moved to a new band room and started a new three band structure with a contesting band (Town Band), Concert Brass and Progress Brass bands. The Town Band won its area contest under John Berryman, which qualified it to compete in the First Section National Final at the Royal Albert Hall. This also resulted in the band being promoted to the Championship Section, where it remained until 2004. There were promotions to Championship level again in 2008-2010 and 2013. The band qualified to compete in National Finals again in 2011, 2019 and 2021.
In 2003, the band went on a memorable tour to Bamburg, the twin town of Bedford, in Germany, culminating in a concert in the Joseph Keilberth Concert Hall, home to the famous Bamburg Symphony Orchestra. The band also recorded the first of a series of 3 CDs titled “The Spirit of Bedford”, so called after an especially commissioned march. The band has twice been on tours to Malta as guests of the George V band in the town of Mqabba for the weeklong festival of the Feast of the Assumption. The band has also recorded in Maida Vale Studios for the BBC as part of a community music project which was broadcast on Radio 3.
2019 saw the 125th anniversary of the band, which again saw a celebration concert in the Corn Exchange with guest euphonium soloists Gary Curtin and David Thornton.
The Bedford Town Band is now under conductorship of Craig Patterson. The associated bands and learner groups – Concert Brass (largely adult, non-contesting Band), Progress Brass (mainly for our younger, developing players, but with some of the more ‘experienced’ players on hand to help out), plus the Academy Brass, Mature Learners and Wellbeing Brass groups, boasts over 60 players.
More of the band’s history (compiled by Barbara Summersgill for the Band’s centenary anniversary) can be viewed here: History Of Bedford Town Band
Band Officials
| President: | |
| Vice Presidents: | Tony Wiles Paul Riggett |
| Chairman: | Martin Orr |
| Secretary: | Alice Muzzlewhite |
| Treasurer: | Vikki Bean |
| Minutes Secretary: | Alice Muzzlewhite |
| Contest Secretary: | |
| Membership Secretary: | Vikki Bean |
| Safeguarding Officer: | Martin Orr |
| Website: | David Fisher |
| Social Media: | Mollie Muzzlewhite |
| Town Band Manager: | Jen Francis |
| Concert Brass Band Manager: | Steve Gadsden |
| Progress Brass Band Manager: | |
| Academy Band Manager: | Peter Berrington |
| Librarian: | Rosemary Fisher |
| Assets Manager: | |
| Other Band Representatives/ Trustees | Karen Nutting David Barlow John Bradbury Gerry Atkins |