New role for Gwilliam at Beaumaris
With a new year comes new challenges and as the Seindorf Beaumaris Band looks ahead to what is likely to be a very busy 2020 the band has announced that Bari Gwilliam will become the new Musical Director and resident conductor.
Bari needs no introduction to the band having been a member of Seindorf Beaumaris since he was 5 years old and played Soprano Cornet when Beaumaris achieved its best ever contest result finishing in fourth place in the Championship Section finals at the Royal Albert Hall in 2012.
Bari takes over the role following Scott Lloyd's decision to step down in December due to work commitments.
"The committee would like to place on record their huge appreciation and thanks to Scott for his work over the past 18 months," said Seindorf Beaumaris Chairman, Dr Patsy Thomas. "Under Scott's baton, the band started competing once again, securing a second place in the Fourth Section at the Welsh Areas, fourth place in the National Finals of Great Britain in Cheltenham and promotion to the Third Section. We are now looking forward to the next chapter with Bari at the helm."
Bari, who is Musical Director of the El Sistema Codi'r Tô music project in Gwynedd is also a member of the ever popular Band Pres Llareggub and is still an important member of Seindorf Beaumaris playing alongside his wife, Kate, who also conducts the Intermediate Band and daughters, Elin and Catrin.
"As a band which is very much rooted in its community it was vital for us to appoint someone who understood the ethos of the band," said Seindorf Beaumaris President, Fred Evans. "We are a family of five different bands where each band is as important as each other. Having been a member of the organisation for so long Bari understands this more than anyone," explained Mr Evans.
Although taking on the role as the Band's Musical Director and resident conductor, it has been agreed that to lose Bari's playing experience from the young back row section would be too much of a loss to the band and a professional conductor will join the Band as they compete in the Third Section of the Welsh Areas in Swansea on 29 February.
"Having been a member of the band since the early 1980s it is an honour and a privilege to have been asked to take on this role and one which I am very much looking forward to," said Bari. "Seindorf Beaumaris is flourishing at the moment with almost 150 different players being part of the organisation and with a mixture of experienced players and young, dedicated players as part of the competing band it's an exciting time for us in Beaumaris."
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