Line-Up revealed for 2023 Brass in Concert Championship 

Organisers of the Brass in Concert Championship are pleased to announce the line-up for the 2023 event, set to take place at Sage Gateshead on Saturday 18 November. 

The flagship Brass in Concert Championship - in association with World of Brass and supported by Banks Group and Yamaha - will feature 11 bands, led by defending champion Brighouse and Rastrick. The contest will be compered by the brilliant and evergreen Frank Renton, and will be made up of bands from England, Wales, Norway and the USA. 

Aldbourne Brass Band

Aldbourne Band is a long established Brass Band based in Aldbourne near Marlborough - Wiltshire, originally formed in 1860 by the church organist. The Band’s aim is to provide a consistently high standard of music performances on both the concert and contest platform.

The Band’s competing history goes back before the first World War and during the 1920’s and 30’s achieved great acclaim performing at the Crystal Palace in London. In 1981 the band won the West of England Championships and competed at the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall as well as representing the area on BBC 2’s “Best of Brass”.

Aldbourne have enjoyed consistently high results at major contests during the 2022 season and are now ranked 12th in the 4barsrest world rankings table. Due to their recent successes, the band have been invited to play at the Brass in Concert Championship for the first time in their history.

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Brighouse & Rastrick Band

Brighouse and Rastrick Band is regarded by many as the finest ‘public subscription band’ in the world, and are the current Brass in Concert Champions. The band was formed in 1881 through public donations given by the townsfolk of the adjacent villages of Brighouse and Rastrick, which face each other across the River Calder in West Yorkshire, and captured the hearts of the British public in 1977 when The Floral Dance spent six weeks at No. 2 in the UK singles charts. Today, the band still continues to be supported through public subscriptions and its own fundraising efforts.

The majority of premier band championships have been held by ‘Briggus’. The band became the National Champion Band of Great Britain for the tenth time in 2017, whilst it has also attracted a formidable reputation for highly entertaining concerts for both the general public and brass band connoisseur.

After a 44-year wait, Brighouse and Rastrick were delighted to be crowned the 168th British Open Champions in September 2022 at Symphony Hall in Birmingham and will subsequently represent England at the European Championships in Palanga, Lithuania in May 2024.

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Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band

The South Elmsall Village Brass Band can be traced back to humble beginnings in 1884. In 1905, the band was adopted by the local Frickley Colliery, which in turn was to become owned by the Carlton Main Coal Company, and by 1923 the band became known by its present name. During the band’s long and successful history, it has both competed and triumphed at many of the most prestigious competitions in the world. Most notably, the band has held the titles at the British Open, Granada TV Band of the Year, BBC Best of Brass, Grand Shield and British Open Quartet Championships. 2018 and 2019 saw the band achieve its highest ever finishes at Brass in Concert, finishing in 2nd place.

The band has built a reputation as one of the finest concert bands in the country through a combination of innovative programmes, partnered with quality of performance. In 2015, the band took up the position of the feature band of the Gary Clarke Company, with his groundbreaking contemporary dance production and National Theatre award-winning COAL. This position saw the band tour both the UK and Europe throughout 2016, 2017 and 2018. The band has continued this role in Gary Clarke’s sequel, Wasteland, with tour dates throughout 2019 and 2020. With regular appearances on the BBC’s flagship programme Songs of Praise and performances with the world-renowned Rambert Dance Company in 2015 and 2016, the band is currently experiencing one of the most successful periods in its history.

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Eikanger-Bjorsvik Band

The Eikanger-Bjørsvik band hails from the municipality of Lindås, Norway. They are probably the best known brass band in Norway and have won the National brass band championships twenty times . In 1988 they became the first non-British band to win the European championships for brass band, an achievement they repeated in 1989 and 2017. The Eikanger-Bjørsvik band have worked with conductors like David King, Elgar Howarth, Howard Snell, Ingar Bergby, Bjarte Engeset and Nicholas Childs.

The name is constructed from the names of two small villages along the fjord of Osterfjorden, Eikanger and Bjørsvik, which both had their own community bands. Eikanger's, being the oldest, was founded in 1949, Bjørsvik's in 1952. In 1971, the bands merged and became a British-style brass band.

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Flowers Band

Flowers Band, from Gloucestershire, is now in its 55th year of outstanding musical excellence. Flowers is the leading band in the West of England and consistently in the top 10 in the world rankings.

The band was formed in 1968 as a result of the disbandment of the Royal Gloucester Hussars (Territorial Army) Brass Band. After negotiation with the Ministry of Defence, the instruments were purchased and most of the former R.G.H. bandsmen, together with other local players, formed the City of Gloucester Band. The band has held a variety of names via generous sponsorship, including Whitbread in the Community, PolySteel, and most famously Flowers Brewery. In 1998, the brewery closed, but the band kept the name under which it had become so well respected.

Paul Holland is the band’s current Musical Director, and together they continue to re-write their own record books, achieving their highest ever results at the National Championships of Great Britain, British Open and Brass in Concert Championship.

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Foden's Band

Foden’s were formed in 1902 by Edwin Foden, originally named The Foden’s Motor Works Band. From these humble beginnings few would have thought they would go on to win 12 British Open titles, 16 National Championships of Great Britain and an unparalleled double hat-trick in 1932, 33, 34 and in 1936, 37 and 38. Since 1902, it has maintained its position as one of the world’s leading bands on and off the contest stage. In 2012 Foden’s won the prized ‘Double’ being crowned the British Open and National Champion, and in 2018 and 2021 reclaimed the National Title.

As well as being successful on the contest front the band has won numerous awards for CD releases, regularly appear on BBC TV and Radio and perform at all the country’s leading concert halls. Around the world Foden’s Band is a trademark that musicians associate with inestimable class and musicianship. In 2022 Foden’s were crowned the North West Area Champion for the 6th consecutive year, placed 3rd at the European Championships, runner-up at the British Open and, in October, retained its National title at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

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Fountain City Brass Band

The Fountain City Brass Band was founded in 2002 and is committed to a mission of cultural enrichment by performing electric concerts that expand the brass band art form and are both entertaining and educational for audiences. Performing a wide variety of music, including modern compositions written specifically for brass bands and arrangements of classical works, jazz, and Broadway hits, FCBB seeks to bridge the gap between popular and classical art music.

Fountain City appeared at consecutive Brass in Concert Championships in 2017 and 2018, and the band are hoping to build on their podium finishes from the past at this year's contest.

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Friary Brass Band

When Friary Brass Band made its National Finals debut in 2013, an audience member at the Royal Albert Hall was overheard to say “Friary - who on earth are they?” Seven further consecutive RAH appearances later, five consecutive Regional Championship titles, three Most Entertaining Band awards at Butlin’s and the Audience Entertainment Award at the past two Brass in Concert Championships, that’s not a question likely to be overheard in banding circles these days.

Based near Woking in Surrey, Friary has undoubtedly earned a reputation for performance and entertainment under the baton of former Grenadier Guards Bandmaster, Chris King. The Band takes its name from initial sponsor, Guildford’s Friary Meux brewery, and will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. Apart from the usual concerts and contests, Friary has played at many special occasions, including major sporting events such as the British Grand Prix and rugby internationals at Twickenham and Wembley, and for a local theatre company’s production of Brassed Off. The Band has also shared the stage with Cory, Brighouse and Rastrick and Fairey Bands, as well as local choirs and the youth band where two of its principal players began their banding journeys.

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Grimethorpe Colliery Band

Formed in 1917, Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a British institution. National and British Open Champion on numerous occasions, the band’s contest successes remain legendary. These include 16 Brass In Concert Championship titles, 11 times Yorkshire Regional Champions, two English National Championship victories, four times British Open Champions and four times National Champion of Great Britain.

Grimethorpe’s diverse concert performances include those at the FIFA World Cup, BAFTA Awards, BBC Proms, Eurovision and 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, together with a wealth of national and international television and radio appearances and recordings. The band has been the recipient of two gold discs, as well as a BAFTA nomination for its contributions to the global hit movie, Brassed Off!, in which Grimethorpe was the focal point. The Royal Albert Hall, Symphony Hall, Barbican, Westminster Abbey, European Parliament, Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall have all played host to Grimethorpe. With tours to Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, USA and concerts and festival appearances throughout Europe, the band’s international reputation remains unsurpassed.

In addition to continuing to delight audiences across the globe, Grimethorpe also continues to invest in and support its local community in Grimethorpe, Barnsley and South Yorkshire, particularly through its youth music initiatives and community performances.

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The Hammonds Band

Hammonds Band has an impressive pedigree, with an unbroken sequence of 73 years under various names, and roots going back 150 years to when, in 1855, a brass band was formed as one of the amenities for the people of Saltaire. In recent years the band has contested throughout Europe, recorded numerous CDs and performed at some of the best concert venues in the world as the Yorkshire Building Society Band (YBS). Prior to that the band (as Hammonds Sauce Works) enjoyed contest and concert success under the baton of Geoffrey Whitham for nearly 30 years.

Hammonds Band has enjoyed great success on the contest platform. As YBS it was European Champion eight times in nine years and won the British Open and All- England Masters on several occasions. The band was also crowned Yorkshire Champion in 1994, 1999 and 2004.

Under the guidance of Morgan Griffiths, the band is looking forward to a successful future which builds upon the rich heritage of its past.

After two years in lockdown and a period of rebuilding, the band finished 2nd at the 2022 Yorkshire Brass Band Championships and went on to finish in 5th place at the Royal Albert Hall in October.

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Tredegar Town Band

The origins of Tredegar Band can be traced to 1849, although it wasn’t until 1876 that it was formally constituted. Since the mid-1970s it has become one of the banding world’s elite performers, as well as multiple winners of major competitions. A self-supporting organisation with a reputation for innovation, it represents the town of its name with pride - literally so with their contribution to the BAFTA Award winning film, Pride. Significant artistic achievements include the world première of Gavin Higgins’ acclaimed Dark Arteries production with the Rambert Ballet at Sadler’s Wells, performances as part of Changing Britain series at London’s Southbank, and in the 70th anniversary celebrations of the National Health Service, becoming the first brass band to perform in The Speaker’s House in the Palace of Westminster.

High-profile concerts have also been given at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Austria and at the Brucknerhaus as part of the prestigious Linz Brass Festival.

Critical acclaim has come from its world première at Llandaff Cathedral of the Thomas Tallis renaissance masterpiece, Spem in Alium, whilst they have produced a number of award-winning CDs – the most recent a landmark recording of the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams in recognition of the 150th anniversary of his birth, conducted by Martyn Brabbins.

In August of 2022, the band performed to widespread acclaim as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, firstly in the world première alongside the National Orchestra of Wales of Gavin Higgins’ Concerto Grosso for Orchestra and Brass Band and the following evening in its own Late Night Prom.

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