Unison Kinneil in sad farewell to MD

Unison Kinneil Band on stage under the baton of Craig Anderson.

THE Unison Kinneil Band has announced that Musical Director Craig Anderson is to leave the organisation after four and a half years in the role.

The decision, which was made by mutual agreement, will see the musical partnership come to an end following the 2016 Scottish Open on November 26.

It follows a successful tenure which has seen Craig guide the Bo'ness band from the second to the championship section.

A spokesman for Unison Kinneil Band said: "The band and committee would like to express their gratitude to Craig for the work put in over the past four and a half years. We handed him the task of taking the band from the second section back to the pinnacle of Scottish banding's championship section, which he delivered in 2015 with a podium position that saw the band promoted back into the championships for the 2016 season.

"Unfortunately, work and family commitments and the endurance of travelling from Ayrshire to the band's home town of Bo’ness, have all eventually taken their toll. The band and Craig had hoped to see it through to the Scottish Championships in March 2017 but his professional playing and teaching commitments have taken the decision from his grasp with an increase in workload in the first quarter of 2017."

Unison Kinneil Band is now on the lookout for a resident conductor supported by a Musical Director or an appropriate candidate who can fulfil both roles in one.

The band rehearses on Monday and Thursday nights in its own premises in Linlithgow Rd, Bo’ness.

Applications from interested parties can be made to the band's secretary in the strictest confidence: robertdoherty@blueyonder.co.uk