THIRTY young musicians from Dunblane Boys’ Brigade have been in Germany for a week-long tour.

The group headed out on Thursday, August 2 and are all members of the 40-strong Boys’ Brigade band in Dunblane, as well as three BB members who are bagpipers.

They were due to arrive in Bacharach in the Rhineland, above the steep-sided gorge of Europe’s busiest river and one of Germany’s most scenic tourist areas, to stay in a converted castle youth hostel.

Three concerts were to follow in quick succession: in Rudesheim on Saturday, Bad Ems on Sunday and in Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg on Tuesday.

In between was a ‘day off’ at the huge Phantasialand theme park, with visits to a number of other historic attractions taking place on their concert days.

Band conductor, Fraser Boyd, said ahead of the trip out: “The boys have worked really hard towards this tour.

"They’ve not had a summer holiday from rehearsals, which have continued non-stop all year!

"In the run-up to the tour they’ve had some German lessons as well and we really hope the boys will gain from experiencing German culture and history as well as sharing in that international language of music.” 

BB captain, Paul Christmas, added: “This is only the second time the BB boys have been abroad following our trip to Malawi in 2016.

"It is really pleasing to see their efforts rewarded as the fantastic spring concert they put on in March as well as other recent performances the band has received income from have gone a long way to fund this brilliant opportunity.” 

The band would particularly like to thank North Sea Plastics for its generous financial support of the trip as well as everyone who has attended the band’s recent performances and fundraising events.

Upon their return, the band will be recruiting new members to learn instruments as beginners (or existing players) when the school term begins.