n recent years
The Hamiltons have made the trip to take part in the Scottish Amateur
Flute Band Championships in Scotland where we have also been
successful,
gaining
first place in April 1995 in Grade 1 and winning Best Overall
Band for the third year in a row in the face of stiff opposition.
This was a wonderful start for our newly appointed Conductor,
Nigel Cairns. An accomplished pianist and flautist, Nigel took
over the baton on 1st January 1995 and unfortunately had to stand
down for a short time during 1998/99 to free up time to pursue his
career in teaching. 
During Nigel's absence we had the pleasure of being conducted by Mr Fergus Cobain, who took over in March 1998. He has a very fine pedigree in the world of flute banding having gained a lot of experience not only as a conductor but as a player and adjudicator. He has won many medals over the years as a soloist and laterly as a very successful conductor.
The present membership of 40, ranging from the age of 9 years to the over 55's, is divided almost equally into male and female. This is a particularly interesting fact when one considers that "females" were only introduced to the Band (traditionally all male) in the late 1970's. The Band continues to flourish and is regarded by many as being one of the finest, not only in the North West but in the North of Ireland in general and has been extremely successful in recent years with 1993 - 97 being the most successful and busiest.
Our trip to London in November 1993 to appear in The Lord Mayor's Show was a huge undertaking and a proud success. The Band also gave a concert in The Church of St Lawerence Jewry in the Courtyard of London's Guildhall immediately after the investiture of the Lord Mayor. All this was recorded and shown in a BBC TV documentary in April '94.
1995 was a very busy year with engagements at the Swinford Festival, Co Mayo, the VE Commemoration in Londonderry and the Victory in Japan (VJ) Commemoration, held at Carrickfergus Castle in the presence of HRH The Duke of York (which included a live network television appearance) and the Battle of Britain Service at RAF Aldergrove to name but a few.
1996 saw the 'Hamiltons' travel into Europe, carrying out a guest concert at the European Parliament in Brussels and participation in the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme at the Ulster Tower in France. An extremely successful venture to add to the continuing success story of an established and well respected Band which has the ability to represent both its' City and Country at the highest level.
More recently in November 2002 the band again attended the Lord Mayor's Show in the city of London, which was viewed by thousands of people along the route and was shown 'Live' on national television by the BBC. This was a trememdous experience for the band members and we were extremely proud that the Mayor of our City was in attendance on this important occasion. The band also played a concert in the church of St. lawrence Jury at London Guildhall. The concert was attended by members of the public both from London and Londonderry and followed the installation of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Gavyn Arthur.
|
 |
|