Connecting during the Corona crisis – Dunaskin Doon Band

The spotlight falls on Dunaskin Doon Band in our continuing series on how Scottish bands are staying connected during the Coronavirus pandemic:

Dunaskin Doon Band has enjoyed a musical presence in Ayrshire since 1869, and it celebrated its sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary in 2019. Currently the band is led by two talented gents - musical director Paul Drury and resident conductor Scott Walker.  

The band has a long and illustrious history which peaked in our 150th year, when we achieved our highest ever placing in the Scottish Championships, achieving fifth place at the top level. 

Away from contesting, the band has much to be proud of, including forging strong links with our local community and organising fundraising concerts for local charities.

Just before last Christmas, the band moved into the former Mossblown Library building, which was an unused council property on Annbank Road, Mossblown. It has proved to be an ideal size and layout for the band with a large central space for rehearsals and smaller breakaway rooms/offices and a generous social area where we hope to permanently display our archive. 

We had planned to be painting and decorating during our Easter break, but that has been stopped due to the ongoing situation around COVID-19.

We are thrilled to have our own space at last – it has made such a difference to morale. Thanks must go to the band committee members (past and present) as well as South Ayrshire Council’s Community Asset Transfer Team for working so hard behind the scenes to make this dream a reality.

We are missing rehearsals and each other. So far we’ve had virtual playing and quizzes, with other on-line activities planned.

Much love to all our banding colleagues out there. Stay safe and we look forward to some friendly rivalry and ‘bandter‘ at the next contest! 

• Let us know about your band. Tell us about some of your successes, when you were founded, where and when you rehearse (when things are back to normal), and how your members are coping during the Coronavirus emergency situation.

Just send a couple of photos and a short write-up to Nigel Martin at sbbapr@gmail.com