A brief history of the group

The Sax Section was formed in 1992 when The North Cheshire Concert Band thought it might be a good idea to vary its programme at a concert, by including some pieces played by a chamber ensemble from within the band.

The North Cheshire Concert Band performing at the Parr Hall, Warrington, in November 1997 with Sue, Dave, Margaret, and Angela in shot on saxes.                       [Photograph: Leslie Geldart].

The saxophone section, always game for anything like this, was volunteered and a few AATB (Alto-Alto-Tenor-Baritone) quartet pieces were rapidly acquired and rehearsed. We got to like it instantly and the Sax Section came into being as an independent group with its own regular rehearsals and a repertoire which expanded rapidly from the three pieces performed at that first concert.   Years later we're going stronger than ever.

The Sax Section:                                                                         [Photograph: Don Court]     Dave Webber (soprano+alto); Sue Franklin (alto+soprano);             Margaret Webber (tenor+alto); Angela Fairhurst (tenor+alto);                     Helen Masterton (alto+baritone); Ian Booth (baritone+tenor).

In the early days first Dave and then Sue succumbed to the charms of the soprano sax, a new voice that the group definitely needed, and then while Ian was abroad for an extended period Helen stepped in on baritone....and now we'll each own up to playing at least two of the family on a fairly regular basis.  This makes the group very flexible and allows us to vary our standard SAATTB sextet and SATB quartet line-ups to try different arrangements such as SSATBB. 

Copyright © the Sax Section 2000