Melodians Year 2016

A typical Melodians Year

The Melodians had another busy year in 2016 with 16 engagements including one overseas trip and 4 weddings.

The year started with the Melodians playing at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. This is always a fantastic event and the Melodians were able to attend the full service having played as the guests were arriving. The leader Terrance Noel was invited to meet the Royal Family as they left at the end of the service.

As it was the Queen’s 90th Birthday the Melodians were invited to Moscow to play at the Queen’s Birthday Party at the Ambassador’s Residence on the 8th June. They returned to London in time to play at the Patron’s Lunch on the Mall on the 12th June, again celebrating the Queen’s Birthday.

The Melodians played at 4 weddings during 2016. For one of the weddings a small trio of the Melodians learnt The Wedding March (Here Comes The Bride) and played it as the bride walked down the aisle. Two of the weddings were for players from within the Melodians which made the events extra special.

The Melodians were invited to take part in the BBC’s first Virtual Orchestra which was to be a recording of the ‘Toreador’ by Bizet. The Melodians learnt this new piece of music and recorded themselves playing it at their rehearsal rooms. We received a certificate of participation – we believe that we were the only steel orchestra that took part

Here is a full list of the 2016 gigs.

Date	Event	Size of Group
Mon 14th March	Commonwealth Day Service, Westminster Abbey	Orchestra
Wed 23rd March	BT Sport Relief Ball, Grosvenor House Hotel	Party size
Sat 21st May	Wedding reception	14 players
Sun 29th May	Wedding reception	Party size
Wed 8th June	The Queen’s 90th Birthday Party Celebrations, Moscow	Party size
Sun 12th June	The Patrons’ Lunch, The Queen’s 90th Birthday Party Celebrations, The Mall	Orchestra
Sun 19th June	Heritage Day, Sandhurst Military Academy	Orchestra
Tue 21st June	Summer Party, Marlborough House	Party size
Sat 2nd July	Henry Cavendish Fair	Orchestra
Sat 9th July	Wedding reception	Party size
Sat 20th Aug	Recording for BBC Virtual Orchestra	11 players
Sun 11th Sep	Wedding reception	Party size
Sat 24th Sep	Woodfield Fair	Party size
Wed 2nd Nov	Ely’s Department Store, Wimbledon	Party size
Sun 27th Nov	Ely’s Department Store, Wimbledon	Party size
Sat 10th Dec	Annual Award Concert	Orchestra

Over the summer the Melodians also created two videos. One is a short promotional video ‘We Are The Melodians Steel Orchestra’ to give an introduction to the Melodians and their leader Terry Noel. The other is a 20 minute documentary giving more detail of the history of pan, the life of the Melodians Steel Orchestra UK and interviews with: the leader Terry Noel, the headteacher, Alexandra Hardy, at Henry Cavendish School where they are based, and also three of the players Robert London, Cheynne Gibbs-Singh and Lucy Barnard.

Here are a few photos from the year: