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John Maines (born 10 December 1948) is a musician, trombone player and active figure in the British brass band movement [1] [2] as a performer, conductor, tutor, compere and concert presenter.
Maines was born in Warrington on 10 December 1948. He was raised in Winwick, Lancashire and later Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire. After initial lessons from his father, his early musical career started as a tenor horn player with the Prescot Cables Band near St. Helens. After a move to trombone he joined the Wigan Boys Club and Cammell Laird band in Birkenhead, Cheshire. As a young player he became the North of England Junior Solo Champion and was invited to play for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. A move to Cornwall saw John as principal trombone with St. Austell and Bodmin bands where he achieved a succession of competition victories at solo competitions throughout the South West of England. It was at this time that he gained the title of Champion Trombone Player of Great Britain on three successive occasions. He is one of only two players ever to achieve a hat-trick in this event.
After playing solo trombone with the Stanshawe (Bristol) and Fairey Engineering bands with whom he also held the post of principal trombone with Harry Mortimer's Men o' Brass, he became principal trombone with the Black Dyke Mills Band. With this band he won competition titles including a hat trick of European Championships and toured such countries as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and Japan.
Since 1979 he has been a music tutor for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain and is a Council member of the same organisation.
Maines is a member of the National Association of Brass Band Adjudicators and regularly adjudicates both at home and abroad. He travels in Europe taking him to such places as Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark where he has taken part in various musical activities including the direction of the National Youth Band of Denmark. Maines' academic work saw him graduate from the University of Sheffield with a BA (Hons) Degree.
Maines is active as a conductor in the UK directing different bands, as well as undertaking the role of Master of Ceremonies at many of the country's band events such as The National Youth Band Championships, The Great Northern Brass Arts Festival, The Harry Mortimer Centenary Concert and acting as compere for many bands such as Black Dyke, Fairey's, Grimethorpe Colliery, Foden's, Brighouse & Rastrick, Wingates, Leyland, BAYV Cory and Yorkshire Building Society.
Maines was for a time the Musical Director of the James Shepherd Versatile Brass group with whom he travelled extensively.
Maines is a writer for various music publications, and has taken part in many recordings for CD, Radio and Television. In addition to his everyday banding activities Maines was for many years the presenter of the long running BBC weekly band programme "GMR Brass" and in 1999 received the Manchester Music Makers award for his contribution to music broadcasting in the Greater Manchester area. He is now the presenter of World of Brass Radio on www.worldofbrass.com, an internet based programme of brass music.
Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and most well-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West Yorkshire in the mid-19th century. The ensemble has become prominent in competitive band championships and through recordings for film and television.
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 was formed in 1809 and was perhaps the first civilian brass band in the world.
Ian Bousfield is an English musician who has held positions as Principal Trombone with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra. Also a pedagogue, Bousfield is an instructor in the music division at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Switzerland.
Chris Houlding was appointed Principal Trombone of the Orchestra of Opera North, England, when he was 21 and has played as Guest Principal with the best of UK ensembles and recently represented the UK in the World Orchestra of Peace in Russia. He is also known as an influential teacher and held the position of Senior Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester for many years.
Eric Crees was appointed Principal Trombone of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London) in 2000. Before that he spent twenty-seven years at the London Symphony Orchestra, twenty as Co-Principal Trombone. He is also a noted brass conductor, composer, arranger and teacher.
The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band is a British brass band formed in 1881. The band is based in Brighouse, in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The band is known across the world, and is regarded by many as the best and most consistent "public subscription band" in the world. They were the 2022 British Open champions, the current Brass in Concert, and Saddleworth Whit Friday champions, and were voted 2022 4Barsrest Band of the Year. The band are regarded as one of the finest brass bands in history, and are in high demand across the globe.
David Thornton is a British solo euphonium player for the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band.
Harry Mortimer was an English composer and conductor who specialised in brass band music, one of the foremost cornet players of his era.
As part of the British brass band tradition of contesting, bands are split into five main brass band sections in the United Kingdom. These are the Championship, First, Second, Third, and Fourth sections. In some contests, a Youth section is also used, but this is not graded. The adjudicator for qualifying contests sits enclosed and unable to see the bands as they play, and then judges them on various points, one of which is interpretation.
Wingates Band is a brass band based in Wingates, a settlement near the town of Westhoughton in north-west England. It is considered one of the country's finest contesting bands and competes in the championship section of the British brass band league structure.
Mansel Treharne Thomas, was a Welsh composer and conductor, who worked mainly in South Wales. He was one of the most influential musicians of his generation, known as a composer, conductor and adjudicator. He was for many years employed by the BBC and promoted the careers of many composers and performers. He himself wrote vocal, choral, instrumental, band and orchestral music, specialising in setting songs and poetry. Many of his orchestral and chamber music pieces are based on Welsh folk songs and dances.
Simon Dobson is an English composer particularly noted for his brass band compositions.
Paul Lovatt-Cooper is an English percussionist and composer. He currently holds the position of Director of Music at Factory Transmedia, and is the Managing Director of his music company PLC Music. Lovatt-Cooper is also Composer in Association with the Black Dyke Band.
Kingdom Brass is a brass band based in Kelty, in Fife, Scotland.
Robbert Vos, is a euphonium soloist, Besson artist, conductor and tutor from the Netherlands.
Denis Wright, OBE was an English composer and conductor of brass band music.
Roy Newsome was a British conductor, composer, arranger, broadcaster, music educator, and cornet player.
Nicholas John Childs is a Welsh musician, conductor, composer and brass educator.
Jordan Ashman is a British multi-percussionist born in 2004 in Bury St Edmunds, and is the winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year award in 2022.
Nigel Boddice MBE, hon. ARAM was a British trumpet player, conductor and band leader who was prominent in the UK brass band scene. He performed and recorded with many orchestras and bands over his lifetime, including a 20-year tenure as the Section Principal Trumpet of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.