Big Band

The Big Band is not just a Big Band, but three smaller jazz, dance and swing bands with over 40 talented musicians playing music from Goodwin to Gershwin and of course Glenn Miller. Our evening rehearsals are held at the Avery Hill campus.

Oh Look At Me Now - Big Band with Ruth Fahie Vocals

April 2014 Concert - Big Band, Chemistry, And All That Jazz. Ruth Fahie sings this arrangement by Fletcher Henderson. A charity fundraiser for the local hospice

More videos Big Band history

Rehearsals

We are now rehearsing in term time at Southwood House, Room SH004, Avery Hill Campus. Contact us to join.

Upcoming Events

The Easter Parade and the Great American Songbook

Sunday 29th March 2026 at 3pm

Big Band Charity Concert supporting The Demelza Children’s Hospice.

Venue

David Fussey Lecture Theatre, Fussey Building, Southwood Campus, Avery Hill, SE9 2UG.

Welcome to The Easter Parade Big Band Charity Concert!

Tickets are free, but there will be a leaving collection for the local Demelza Children’s Hospice.

The band is presenting a multimedia concert featuring music by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and more, popular songs and enduring tunes from the 1920 -1950s created for Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals and films ,and major featured song in the Great American Songbook.

For free admission by pre-booking, please use this Eventbrite link.

Click here for travel directions.

Logo of the children's charity Demelza featuring an illustration of a child's face along with the text proudly supporting demelza, extraordinary care for extraordinary children.

Previous Events

Sunday 6th April 2025: The Cotton Club, Harlem and All That Jazz

Big Band Charity Concert supporting The Demelza Children’s Hospice.

Held at the David Fussey Lecture Theatre, Fussey Building, Southwood Campus, Avery Hill , SE9 2UG.

A collage made of hand-drawn illustrations featuring the words cotton club in the centre.

The audience were transported to the iconic Cotton Club in Harlem for an afternoon filled with music of the great legends of the Jazz Age - Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and more.

The Cotton Club owner, a well known mobster, used the Cotton Club during Prohibition to illegally sell alcohol. This multi-media concert will celebrate the life and times of the Cotton Club era from 1923-1940.

Sunday 19th May 2024: The Roaring Twenties Big Band Charity Concert

Supporting The Greenwich And Bexley Community Hospice

Held at the David Fussey Lecture Theatre, Fussey Building, Southwood Campus, Avery Hill , SE9 2UG.

This concert reflected the party mood of the time, with its overtones of ragtime, jazz, cabaret and underground clubs. The most vivid impressions of that era are flappers and dance halls, movie palaces and radio empires, and Prohibition and speakeasies. The band played music from the 20's with illustrations and images and early film clips to illustrate life in this creative decade.

Contacting us

How to join the big band

If you are interested in playing the Big Band Music Group welcomes applications from staff and students who would like to be part of the jazz experience - good music sight reading needed. We can also support students who wish to start their own band group within the university.

The Bands also accept bookings for university and private events across the region.

To find out more contact Band Manager Fred Parrett on 020-8460-2116 or e-mail: bigband@gre.ac.uk.

More music at the University of Greenwich

University of Greenwich Choir

The University of Greenwich Choir is a non-auditioning Choir bringing together students, staff, alumni and friends of the University of Greenwich to make music in a sociable environment.