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.
Philip Smith is an American classical trumpet player. He is former Principal Trumpet with the New York Philharmonic and played with the orchestra from 1978 to 2014. Smith, born in the United Kingdom, is from a Salvation Army background. He assumed the co-principal position in the New York Philharmonic in June 1978 and the principal position in 1988. He also is a supporter of brass bands, performing with various groups of distinction.
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.
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.
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.
Kenneth Downie is a composer of brass band music.
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.
John Golland was an English composer. He is most famous for his works for brass band, such as Sounds, Atmospheres, Peace, Rêves d'Enfant, his two euphonium concerti and a flugelhorn concerto. He also composed incidental music for the 1983-84 BBC sitcom Dear Ladies.
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.
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.
Percy Eastman Fletcher was a British composer of classical music best known today for his brass and military band music. He also worked as a highly successful musical director at London theatres.
Simon Dobson is an English composer particularly noted for his brass band compositions.
Eric Walter John Ball OBE was a British composer, arranger and conductor of brass band music, described as "one of the most prolific writers and influential figures in the brass band and choral world".
Christopher Bond is a British composer particularly noted for his brass band compositions.
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.
