Show Band History

The Beginning

Trinity School Show Band was formed in January 1997 by Neil Wright and Vicky Manderson. It was originally a traditional style marching band with thirty eight members. The band stayed with this style for two years until the formation of a colour guard after a lot of badgering from girls wanting to be cheerleaders. It was at this point that the decision was taken to try out the show band style.

With the addition of three bass drums and a set of multies we tried this new venture and with a slightly bigger combined band and guard of seventy eight members we played at the annual school prizegiving. This was an instant success and after an announcement that the band was looking to recruit, membership increased to one hundred and twenty within two weeks.

2001 - Our First World Championships

In 2001, at the end of our first year competing as a show band, we travelled to Potsdam in Germany to take part in the World Championships. We didn't have a full uniform yet and were still writing our show while we were there but we had a great time, enjoyed the spectacle and made lots of new show band friends.

2002 - More Than Just Competitions

2002 saw a greater variety in the types of activities the band were involved in. As well as The Lord Mayor's Parade and the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Nottingham, we were also asked to play at the re-opening of the city's Arboretum.

A number of band members were lucky enough to become a running gag on ITV's children's programme Dangerville where they popped up each week as the band. We also enjoyed our second training weekend at Warwick Girls' band centre before taking part in four contests and the BYBA finals.

2003 & The World Championships

After BYBA's restructuring of its league system we were put in Division 2 with two other bands. We worked very hard over the season with the highlight being our trip to Monza, Italy for the World Championships where we made it to the final and came twelfth. At the BYBA finals in October we came third and won the GME and Turnout trophies.

2004

Beaumanor Hall near Quorn became our new training base and our three visits there were really productive. The time to focus on music and the show and to grow as a group was greatly appreciated.

The band invested in new flags, new hats and a new set of sashes to augment our visual presence on the competition field and our full show band style continued to entertain the crowds and judges.

The show itself was more challenging and took some getting to grips with for a lot of members. However, by the time we reached Bournemouth for the World Championships we started to perform in a much more assured, exciting and controlled fashion. Those who took part will never forget the buzz after leaving the contest field. It was an amazing feeling to have performed as part of an eighty piece band, seeing all the hard work pay off in front of so many supporters. We made it through to the final and finished 17th.

At home, we qualified fourth in the league and also came fourth at the BYBA National Finals where we had a great day and played the Olympic Retreat for the other bands.

2005

Repertoire

• Penny Lane (Beatles)
• In The Stone (Earth Wind and Fire)
• Against All Odds (Phil Collins)
• Mr Bojangles (Bob Dylan)

Once again the band travelled to Europe, this time to be involved in WMC Kerkrade. Back home, the band came 5th in the BYBA league and 3rd at BYBA finals. We were also very privileged to be approached to be the cornerstone of National Youth Music Week. This involved a trip to London in order to perform a static and marching gig with the Queen's Grenadier Guards.

2006

Repertoire – Swing When You’re Winning

• Have You Met Miss Jones (Based on Robbie Williams)
• Mr Bojangles (Based on Robbie Williams)
• One for My Baby (Based on Robbie Williams)
• Mack the Knife (Based on Robbie Williams)

2006 marked the start of a change in the way Trinity approached their marching programme. The addition of Jason Wallace to the staff team brought in new ideas for the design of Trinity productions. Trinity, thanks to the guidance of Melanie Taylor and Neil Wright, had always competed in Musical captions but suffered in Visual and Colour Guard. The arrival of Jason changed this and in 2006 we started our three year plan. For the first time Trinity had a “Theme” - Swing When Your Winning.

In 2005 Trinity came 1st at Colchester and Academy Brass competitions but came 5th in the league overall. However, we upped our game and came 1st at Finals winning Musical Effect, Visual Effect, Field Wind and Colour Guard.

2007

Repertoire – Around the World

• America Medley (Arranged Melanie Taylor)
• Wedding Ceremony – Miss Saigon
• Spanish Gypsy Dance
• British Medley (Arranged Melanie Taylor)

2007 was another year of change for Trinity as our Band Director, Neil Wright, and Assistant Band Director, Mark Bamkin, both stepped down. This was a massive loss to the band and we are so thankful for the many years of energy, enthusiasm and commitment the pair gave and the strong foundations they left us on which to build.

The loss of Mark and Neil meant we restructured the band management and put in place three Band Directors, Jason Wallace as Performance Director, Melanie Taylor as Musical Director and Adam Dudley as Logistical Director.

Trinity came 1st at the Colchester Competition, 3rd in the League and again came first at Finals, winning Musical Effect, Visual Effect, Field Wind and Colour Guard as well as the Best Guard Of The Day award for the highest score across all divisions. 2007 also saw a massive improvement in the bands Drill and Deportment score.

2008

Repertoire - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

• Old, Don’t Rain On My Parade (Bobby Darren)
• New, It’s Oh So Quiet (Bjork)
• Borrowed, the Way We Were (Barbara Streisand)
• Blue, Moon Dance (Based on Michael Buble)

The Band returned to Italy to compete in a WAMSB sanctioned competition against some of the best bands in the world. We came 8th, a fantastic achievement.

In 2008 we also changed our uniform. The striking new green on black design by long term member Ben Cameron was a massive hit with the band and really smartened up our appearance.

Trinity became the first band ever to win the Colchester Competition for three consecutive years. We also came 1st at Severn Vale competition. We achieved second place in the BYBA league, our highest placing ever and a sign of consistency throughout the season. Trinity came 2nd at finals by a tiny 0.7 margin. At finals we won Visual Effect, Ensemble Visual, Colour Guard, Best Guard of the Day and Percussion. Winning the Percussion caption meant that we had now completed a three year plan we set in 2006, to have no section that could not “compete” in the class.

At the end of 2008 we decided it was time, now we had completed our three year plan, to make our move to the highest tier within BYBA, Division 1.