The music we play is around grade 2-3 concert band standard, sometimes higher, arranged for wind ensemble.

Instruments currently represented : flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone and tuba. We welcome all wind instrument players of all ages, especially in the brass section.

Matt Haddock – Musical Director

Matt is currently Musical Director of the Nene Valley Community Concert Band and has been since August 2020 and Conducts both Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and a Symphonic Choir in Northampton and surrounding counties.
 
Matt is Head of Orchestral Studies and Composition And Deputy Head of department at Coventry University(Phd Supervisor and Lecturer). Since 2022 Holds a Professorship in Orchestral Studies and Conducting

Guest Musical Director and Conductor of the Covent Garden Opera House, London, England 

He trained at the University of Chichester, Ba(Hons) Music, MMus and DMus Postgraduate work at the Royal Academy of Music studying under maestros Bernard Haitink, Simon Rattle and Andre Previn.

He has worked on Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney Todd, Seussical, Jekyll and Hyde, Carmen and Gilbert & Sullivan shows (Pirates of Penzance-2013, The Gondoliers-2014, Iolanthe-2015) in Chichester, Matt wrote and directed a production in 2016 which toured off West End Theatres and Channel Island performances, this was Comic Operetta based on the styling and satire of Gilbert & Sullivan.

He has many musical direction credits including Avenue Q(2011), Chicago(2012), Fame(2014), Grease(2015),Wicked(2015), Cats(2016,) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels(2017), Phantom of the opera(2017) and Evita(2018).

He was musical supervisor and arranger for productions including We Will Rock You, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Chicago, Camelot, 42nd Street, Pricilla Queen of The Desert, Little Shop of Horrors and War of the Worlds.
 
Holds ABRSM FRSM In Piano, Voice & Clarinet.

Holder of the Sir George Solti award for Conducting and services to Education in Music and the Sir Adrian Bolt Award in Excellence in Music in Higher Education both awarded in November 2022
 
Has been a musician from the age of 4 and has been a conductor since the age of 12 studying under the direction of Michael Rose. For the past four years Matt has been a private tutor for St Giles Music teaching piano, woodwind, voice & composition.

Prof. Matthew A Haddock BA(Hons) , MMus & DMus, LRSM & FRFSM, Musical Director NVCB

Andy Dickson – Alto Sax and Chairperson

Currently the Chairperson of NVCB

I took up the saxophone  in 2017 at the same time as my daughter took up playing flute.

We joined NVCB shortly after and in 2019 I was very honoured to become the Chairperson for the band and remain in that same post today. 

I feel very privileged to be a part of  such a friendly, supportive and fun group of people.

Frances Dickson – Flute

I took up the flute in 2017 at the same time as my dad took up playing the saxophone. We joined the NVCB shortly after in 2019.

I love being a part of the NVCB and I’m proud to play alongside the other musicians, it makes my Monday nights so enjoyable. I’m on the NVCB committee which is great, I’m responsible for the Facebook page, alongside Sarah, our tuba player.

I enjoy welcoming new people to the band and helping them to settle in. I play 2nd flute in the band and I’m currently working towards my grade 5 exam.

Jackie Callow – Clarinet

I’m a founder member of the Nene Valley Community Cand and I’m passionate about making music with this incredible band. We are a really  lovely community of musicians that love keeping the community entertained .

Patricia Purcell – Trumpet

I took up playing the trumpet again 9 months ago in April 2024 and joined NVCB on 27th May 2024. The trumpet was left to my husband by his father who had a dance band in the 60’s and 70’s.

As a child of 11 years old, I was encouraged by my GP to play a wind instrument due to poor health so I joined the Hallroyd Methodist Junior Band and then later Hammonds Sauceworks Junior Brass Band playing the Soprano cornet. Playing in brass bands only lasted a couple of years, but made a lasting impression on me. I was very fortunate to have been tutored by the late Geoffrey Whitham, the famous Euphonium player and conductor of Black Dyke Mills and Hammonds Sauceworks Bands.

I recommend having a tutor if you are returning to or learning to playing an instrument for the first time as bad habits are hard to break once they set in.

Mike Cope – Alto and Tenor Saxophone

I am still at work as a materials specialist, mainly working on race engines. I have been playing in the band for almost one year and really appreciate playing alongside the other band members under Matt’s excellent guidance.

I played the tuba at school and managed to get into the Staffs Schools County Wind Band but then stopped playing music for twenty years. I took up sax, my favourite instrument, as a home player, and finally took the decision to join NVCB where I was made very welcome. The band practice sessions and concerts have really improved my playing confidence.

Margaret Brown – Saxophone

I started playing the clarinet aged 11 and took on the alto sax a few years later. I only ever owned a clarinet at that time. Moving on twenty or so years and playing clarinet in another local band, I decided to buy an alto sax. This was joined by a soprano, a baritone and a tenor or two at various times! Currently, I am found on tenor sax but I move about a bit.

I enjoy playing in ensembles, such as NVCB, as together the sound is so much better than what I can produce alone and counting to 4 can be extremely difficult without a conductor to follow.
This is a friendly group of musicians and I have always felt welcome.