Brass bands:
There are currently 5 Brass Bands run by the Music Centre.
The Bands are graded to suit the ability of the players and make regular performances. All bands are staffed by experienced professional musicians and considerate training and advice is always at hand.
The Full Ensembles are:-
Bolton Beginner Brass Band
The Beginner Brass Band caters for the youngest players who have just begun to learn their instruments. The band plays fun pieces and the young musicians learn to play together in this very friendly band.
The Musical Director is
Toby Hobson.
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Little Lever Beginner Brass Band
Based at St Matthews Primary School, Little Lever this band has grown rapidly and provides an excellent opportunity for musicians from the East of the town to experience ensemble work.
The Musical Director is
Simon Dunkley
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Bolton Junior Brass Band
The Training Brass Band is an established band for young players and the musicians develop their band skills in this group before moving on to the Intermediate Brass Band. It is important that young players learn to play together and the experience of working as a band is very beneficial to their instrumental work as well as being great fun.
The Musical Director is Anna Hughes-Williams
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Bolton Intermediate Brass Band
This band has grown into a large and competent unit and is the main feed for the Youth Band. The music is a mixture of traditional and modern Brass Band pieces, some serious and others just fun!
The Musical Director is Toby Hobson.
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Bolton Youth Brass Band
Bolton Youth Brass Band is the Premier Brass Band of Bolton Music
Service – one of 5 graded brass bands which rehearses at Bolton Music Centre on
Wednesday evenings. The 50 players come from around 20 different schools and
colleges in the area, and the age range is 11-19. There are 4 supporting tutors
– Dave Greenland, Toby Hobson, Anna Hughes-Williams and James Hatton, who work
regularly with the band alongside Musical Director, Helen Minshall.
The band has a busy annual schedule, with regular concerts in and
around Bolton and further afield. In the last 3 years the band has enjoyed joint
concerts with Foden’s and Wingates Bands, and has worked with leading Musical
Directors and Tutors. Highlights include a performance in the National Festival
of Music for Youth at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, in July 2008, and the tour of a
lifetime to America, where the band performed at 2 major educational
conferences, and several outdoor concerts in and around Kansas City, Missouri,
in conjunction with the Fountain City Band.
The band enjoyed an Autumn Residential Course at Patterdale Hall
in October 2009, and enjoyed the opportunity to work with guest MD Mark Bousie.
The band has a busy schedule to look forward to again in 2010, with a number of
high profile concerts.
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