The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3- or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word εὔφωνος euphōnos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced". The euphonium is a valved instrument. Nearly all current models have piston valves, though some models with rotary valves do exist.
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, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, 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, for example, first performed in 1815 and is still in existence, although it did not become a brass band until the 1840s.
The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band, based in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the colliery, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band. Along with the Black Dyke Mills Band, the band became the first to perform at the Proms. Grimethorpe Band achieved fame after appearing in the film Brassed Off.
Philip Wilby is a British composer, organist and choir director.
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.
Peter Graham is a prolific British composer for 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.
Earle L. Louder was a euphonium player, acclaimed by colleagues around the world as one of the finest virtuosos of all time on that instrument. He carried a Doctor of Music degree in Euphonium Performance.
James Gourlay is a Scottish conductor and tubist.
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.
Leonard Vincent Falcone (Fal-CONE-ee) was an Italian-American musician, conductor, arranger, lecturer, and educator. He was well known as a virtuoso on the baritone horn, having extensively performed, written, and educated on the instrument. Falcone was best known as Director of Bands at Michigan State University from 1927 through 1967. During Falcone's tenure, the Spartan Marching Band expanded from a small ROTC auxiliary band to a large nationally known Big Ten marching band. Scholarship endowments at MSU and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp were established in his honor, as was the Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival.
The Yorkshire Imperial Band, nicknamed the Yorkshire Imps, is a brass band from West Yorkshire, England.
Callender's Cableworks Band was an amateur brass band made up of members employed by and under the patronage of Erith Works at the Callender Cable & Construction Co. Ltd, later British Insulated Callender's Cables, in Belvedere, Kent, and performing in London and south-east England. They were prolific broadcasters in the early years of BBC Radio, and won 25 brass band competitions.
The Stanshawe Band was a brass band in the English City of Bristol.
Peter John Meechan is a British-Canadian composer, conductor, and music publisher.
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.
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.
