Our concert at Pemberton Band Club on Saturday 22nd April 2023 has had to be cancelled at very short notice. Over the last week we have had a number of players unable to attend band due to illness, and this has now affected a significant number of our players.

Most of the players who are ill began to have symptoms around one week ago. Over this time we have been in regular contact with the players to see how their symptoms were progressing. Earlier in the week they were hopeful that they would be over the worst of this by the middle of the week and able to attend our rehearsal on Thursday night, as well as the concert on Saturday. Unfortunately this has not been the case. Their symptoms have not cleared as quickly as they had hoped, and this is causing respiratory problems for a number of the players.

Given the number of players missing from the band we had to make the difficult decision last night to contact Pemberton band and inform them that we would not be able to perform at the concert this Saturday. This was a decision that was not taken lightly, and in my 28 years in the band it is the first time this has ever happened.

We have kept Pemberton informed of the situation throughout the week. I contacted them on Tuesday to let them know we had several players who were unwell. At this time we did think, in good faith, we would be in a position to perform this weekend. However, this has unfortunately not been the case.

Our sincere apologies to all at Pemberton Band, as well as everyone who has purchased tickets for the concert. We are aware that this is very short notice for the cancellation of the concert. Despite our best efforts, we have found ourselves in the unfortunate position where we are not able to perform this weekend.