On Tuesday 2nd April 2024, our composer Callum Hüseyin came along to our rehearsal to meet the band for the first time. Here's what our musical director Sarah had to say!

We played through some of the repertoire from our recent concert.  Despite limited percussion the band gave a flavour of what they can do.  Callum immediately got stuck in with tuned and auxiliary percussion parts like he was part of the band.

After 45 minutes of playing, we built in some time for a bit of chat with Callum.  We gathered some ideas and information amongst the sections about music likes/dislikes and the band in general that Callum could take away. All band members also got the opportunity to chat directly with Callum. There was a real buzz around the room. Lots of active conversations certainly gave Callum plenty to think about. 

We finished the rehearsal with Callum at the helm putting the band through their paces with the opening section of El Camino Real. It was great to see him in action and how the band responded to him.

It was hardly 24 hours before I received an email from Callum:

"Thank you again for inviting me to rehearsal last night. I enjoyed myself a lot. I look forward to sharing some material with you very soon."

A very successful first meeting with the band and lots of excitement of what's to come over the term ahead.  We look forward to our next rehearsal together and seeing some of his ideas.