NCCB Play Before Belgium Royalty

Norwich City Concert Band embarked on the first European Tour in their ten year history when a group of twenty-seven musicians travelled to Belgium from Friday 9th to Monday 12th May.

After arriving in Ieper by coach on Friday, the band played a wide selection of music in three concerts which were staged over two days. The first, at 2pm on Saturday in Walplein Town centre, Brugge, was followed by a return south-west to play a Sunday matinee concert in a Yepes Market Square. In between these performances band members took advantage of the glorious weather by sampling some of Belgium’s cultural highlights, including a tour of Brugge and a visit to a World War I re-enactment museum.

However, the highlight was undoubtedly that same evening as they performed in the now famous ‘Last Post Ceremony’ at Menin Gate, Ieper. Whilst the service is performed every night at the largest First World War Memorial in Europe, this particular ceremony marked the 60th Anniversary of the American Field-Service, meaning the band not only played to a crowd of around two-thousand people, but to Princess Astrid and Yves Leterme, the Prime Minister of Belgium. This was followed by an opportunity for the band to be personally introduced to the dignitaries by Musical Director Brian Dermott and Band Chairperson Jamie Durrance.

Brian went on to say, 'This was not only a fantastic opportunity for the band to do something it had never done before but a chance for this talented group of players to experience playing music in another country. The band played brilliantly across the two days and performed with both dignity and professionalism at the Menin Gate Ceremony.  Norwich City should be proud to have such a fine concert band.'

The tour was yet another first for the band, more affectionately known around Norfolk as NCCB, who produced their first CD in September 2006 and recently celebrated their 10th Anniversary with a commemorative concert at St. Peter Mancroft Church compèred by Radio Norfolk’s Roy Waller.

To find out more about the band and where the band will be playing this summer, visit our Events section, subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feeds.