Music Society: Concert Band Manager

Hi guys! I'm Ell, I'm a first-year history student, and I'd love to be your concert band manager. Being part of concert band has been a highlight of my first year at UCL, and I'd like to do everything I can to help it keep running smoothly.

I play alto sax, piano and oboe, and in one of the lockdowns I started teaching myself to play a bit of trombone (very badly). In sixth form, I conducted my school's Wind Band, so I have experience with organising music, instruments and concerts. I've also been helping the percussionists get set up at most rehearsals, so I like to think I'm somewhat familiar with the cupboard of doom by this point in the year!

As manager, I would like to give you (the band) more input and choice, so I'd open up suggestions and polls for repertoire (and biscuits!). My favourite thing about concert band is getting to spend time with you lovely people, so I'd also like to organise some social events next year, like family dinners and nights out.

It would be great to be your manager, and if I'm elected, I can't wait to get started and hear all your suggestions!

Hi, my name’s Gautam, and I’m a first-year maths and physics student and enthusiastic flautist!

I’m running to be next year’s concert band manager because I’ve had an amazing time in UCL’s concert band this year, and I’d love to help provide that experience to everyone in the band next year. Here’s a couple of things I would do as concert band manager next year:

• Choose a great selection of music – having played in concert bands almost every year since the start of secondary school, I’ve played a pretty wide variety of music, and I think I could pick some interesting repertoire to go alongside our favourite pieces from this year.

• Organise more social events – one of the best things about concert band is the people you get to meet and make friends with, so I would love to organise more socials such as dinners and quiz nights to help us get to know each other better.

• Find interesting venues for us to play in and advertise our performances to the UCL community so we get even larger turnouts at our performances than this year.

• Get you more involved in making decisions – to make sure concert band is as enjoyable as possible for everyone, I would start each term by asking for your opinions on the music you would like to play, and most importantly, the kind of biscuits you’d like to have in the breaks!

Thanks for reading, and please give me a vote if you think I would make a good manager. Looking forward to making music with all of you guys next year!

My name is Alex, I'm a first year student studying French and Spanish, I play Alto and Tenor Sax and I'd love to be your Concert Band Manager next year! Over the years I've played in a few different ensembles. At school I played in three different bands and helped to run one of them when I was in Sixth Form. I've also played in a Saxophone Quartet for 5 years so I've got a good idea of what it means to be in an ensemble. 

After joining Concert Band at the start of this year I've met so many great people at our rehearsals, concerts and Thursday nights at the Huntley. The social side of the band is really important to me and it would be great to make it even better as your potential manager next year. To get more people socialising together outside of rehearsals I'd encourage everyone to come on our weekly pub trips to the Huntley after rehearsals by creating some themed nights, maybe even depending on what pieces we're playing! Of course the pub isn't everyone's scene so I'd love for us all to get together for a group meal once a term too.

I'd make sure that the band stays a fun and inclusive place for musicians of all levels to come and play some cracking music!

I've really enjoyed being part of Concert Band this year and I'd love to be more involved in running it next year!