When the Friends of Horsham Museum started working on their Heritage Lottery funded project to encourage local clubs, societies and individuals to use the William Albery Poster Collection to research Horsham District’s history, they immediately realised that there were a lot of early posters about the Horsham Borough Band in their collection. So it was only natural for the Friends to contact the Band and see if they were interested. After some talking, the two parties agreed that it would be fun to organise a concert by the award winning band themed around some of the posters, and work has started on a concert to be held on October 13th at London Road Methodist Church, Horsham. It also turned out that the Band has an extensive archive of programs and other material going back to the very early 1900s. What is more, one of the earliest conductors of the Band was none other than William Albery himself! Recognising the importance of this archive, the Band readily agreed to donate it to Horsham Museum where it can be properly recorded and protected for posterity.
“We are very proud to be able to donate this archive of material of the Horsham Borough Band, one of Horsham’s longest running institutions, to The Museum so that it can be protected for the future,” said Geoff Clarke, Horsham Borough Band Treasurer, when he went to the Museum to donate the material last Thursday.
Chris Fulton, who accepted the archive on behalf of The Museum added, “This is a fantastic source of information that relates directly to the posters in our collection, and the connection between the Poster Collection and The Band through William Albery is very poignant. We can’t wait to recruit some keen volunteers to use the archive and posters to tell the story of the Band.”
To volunteer to help or find out more information about the William Albery Poster Project contact Chris Fulton (chris.fulton@horsham.gov.uk / 01403 254959)
Potential players or people wishing to book concerts can contact Horsham Borough Band through Geoff Clarke (www.horshamboroughband.co.uk).
Tickets for the concert will be available from Horsham Museum and the Horsham Borough Band later in the year.