In Britain, a brass band is a musical ensemble comprising a standardized range of brass and percussion instruments. The modern form of the brass band in the United Kingdom dates back to the 19th century, with a vibrant tradition of competition based around communities and local industry, with colliery bands being particularly notable. The Stalybridge Old Band, for example, first performed in 1815 and is still in existence, although it did not become a brass band until the 1840s.
Grimethorpe is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. As of the 2011 census it has a population of 4,672. Grimethorpe is located in eastern Barnsley, and until the local government reorganisation of 1974, it was part of the Hemsworth district and constituency. The village is part of the North East ward of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.
Brassed Off is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor.
Peter Skellern was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s. He had two top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart – "You're a Lady" (1972), which typifies his signature use of brass bands and choral arrangements for a nostalgic and romantic feel, and "Hold On to Love" (1975). In the 1980s, Skellern formed the band Oasis with Julian Lloyd Webber and Mary Hopkin and established a musical comedy partnership with Richard Stilgoe in cabaret.
Dudley Bright was appointed Principal Trombone of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2001 and retired from that position in June 2018. Prior to that, he held the same position with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Halle Orchestra and before that briefly as an associate with the LSO. He is also Professor of Trombone at the Royal Academy of Music.
The Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band is a brass band based in West Yorkshire, England, and close to South Yorkshire.
Silkstone is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, between the towns of Barnsley and Penistone. The parish includes the village of Silkstone Common. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,954, increasing to 3,153 at the 2011 Census.
Harry Mortimer was an English composer and conductor who specialised in brass band music, one of the foremost cornet players of his era.
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands, but may be more correctly termed military bands, concert bands, or "brass and reed" bands.
Andrew Powell is a British musical composer, arranger and performer, born of Welsh parents. He moved to Wales in 2003.
The Cory Band is one of the oldest and best known award-winning brass bands in the world based in Treorchy of the Welsh Valleys, Britain.
Roger Webster is an English cornetist and psychologist. He has been acclaimed as one of the world's best ever cornetists. He also teaches performance at the Royal Northern College of Music as well as giving lectures on psychology. Webster has played with some of the world's best brass bands.
Andrew Derek Cocup, known professionally as Andy Cato, is an English musician, record producer, DJ, and farmer who is currently one half of the electronic music band Groove Armada, the other half being Tom Findlay. He was also involved with Rachel Foster in Weekend Players, another electronic dance group, between 2001 and 2004. His stage name of Cato derives from Cato Road in Clapham, South London, where he lived.
John Maines is a musician, trombone player and active figure in the British brass band movement as a performer, conductor, tutor, compere and concert presenter.
Peter Bassano is an English conductor.
The New Jerusalem is a work for brass band by the British composer Philip Wilby. It was commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, and first performed by them at City Hall, Salisbury in April 1990.
Christopher Bond is a British composer particularly noted for his brass band compositions.
Michael Rath Trombones is a British manufacturer of retail and custom hand-made trombones. Rath offers artist-quality and student instruments in its line of tenor, bass, contrabass and alto trombones. Rath Trombones was founded in 1996 by instrument technician Michael Rath, and is Britain's only trombone manufacturer. Rath's 12 craftspeople create as many as 500 trombones per year, exporting instruments through 25 distributors in North and South America, Japan, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.
Nicholas John Childs is a Welsh musician, conductor, composer and brass educator.
James Shepherd was an English cornet player from Northumbria, described as one of the world's most respected players of the instrument, having won the Championship Soloist of Great Britain Prize in three consecutive years (1962-4). He was principal cornet of Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band from 1960 to 1963, then the Black Dyke Band from 1963 to 1973, before forming a brass ensemble, James Shepherd Versatile Brass, which he led until 1989. He was also principal cornet of the Virtuosi Brass Band, a recording ensemble assembled by Eric Ball.
