Following the news on 9th July that amateur singers, wind and brass musicians should not be playing in groups together now, the scaba team wanted to let you all know that we share your disappointment at this latest development and would encourage all of our member bands to follow the current guidance.
Please see the links below for the full government guidance and statements/responses from Brass Bands England (BBE) and Making Music. scaba is a member of both BBE and Making Music. We will share any updates and changes to this guidance as things develop.
Government/DCMS guidance updated 9th July 2020
The key point in this applicable to brass bands is in the Introduction, which clearly states no group activities should be happening for us at the moment:
“Professionals working in the performing arts are permitted to return to their activities in line with this guidance.
Non-professionals should currently not engage in singing or playing wind and brass instruments with other people given these activities pose a potentially higher risk of transmission and whilst research is ongoing. DCMS has commissioned further scientific studies to be carried out to develop robust scientific data for these activities. Existing and emerging evidence will be analysed to assist the development of policy and guidelines”
Making Music UK statement 10th July 2020
As you are probably aware, scaba has cancelled all face to face activities for the remainder of 2020 including the Brass Festival which should have taken place last weekend and our Autumn contest in September, and the programme for the Southern Counties Youth Band (SCYB) is on hold. We are planning to resume our usual calendar of events in 2021, starting with the Spring contest if the situation and government guidance permits it, and will update you if and when we have news on this later in the year.
In the meantime, we are enjoying seeing and hearing news of local bands’ social activities and ‘remote banding’ videos and the scaba team is looking into running a virtual event for our members. You may also be interested in submitting recordings to the Making Music virtual concert series which is running fortnightly until September. As members of scaba your bands are eligible for inclusion in these concerts – Oxted Band featured in the first concert which premiered on 26 May. See Here for more information.