The Bromley Guitar Society meets once a month, on the third Saturday. We perform a Friends and Family Concert
every year during the summer, and we have, since 2023, taken part in the Reigate and Redhill Festival.
We have also played at the East Surrey Summer concert in 2024, and have performed at the Shirley Singers Concert in Croydon.
Our Plans
We are developing our repertoire under our musical director, Cornelius, and we practise for our annual Friends and Family concerts and for the Reigate and Redhill Festival. We plan to collaborate with other local guitar societies in and have made contact with the new Mid-Kent Guitar Society . We are also members of the Federation of Guitar Societies .
Music
To join us, we ask that players read basic music notation and are at least a little beyond Beginner standard. Thanks to our new musical director, we are able to practise at home using the musical teaching app called ‘Seesaw’.
Our Musical Director
Cornelius Bruinsma studied at Colchester Institute where he gained an Honours degree in Music. He went on to postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Gerald Lee where he gained his Advanced Soloist Certificate and Licentiate Diploma. His career in music has been balanced between performing and teaching.
As a performer Cornelius was a founder member of the Pro Arte Guitar Trio and in this capacity he recorded 5 CDs for ASV. He has broadcast on BBC 1 television and BBC Radio 3 and 4. He has performed at London’s Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall and toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe and USA.
As a teacher Cornelius worked for the Inner London Education Authority where he was a senior tutor on the Tower Hamlet’s wider opportunities project in the 1980’s. He gained his qualified teacher status at during this time. He was also guitar teacher for the London Centre for Young Musicians based at Morley College. He began working for London Borough of Croydon in 1986 as a sessional guitar teacher in Croydon schools. He has been Head of Guitar for Croydon Music and Arts and is now retired and exploring the classical guitar repertoire at leisure.