Brass Bands England's Brass Foundations initiative is supporting Warwickshire Music and local brass bands to create the Warwickshire & Coventry Youth Brass Course.

Led by Musical Director Simon Hogg, the free event takes place on July 17th at the Warwick Corps of Drums HQ in Warwick and hopes to provide a much needed platform for young brass players in the area.

Simon is a founder member of The Fine Arts Brass Ensemble and is currently Director of Music (performance) at Warwick School as well as conducting the University of Warwick Brass Band.

Also part of the initiative is Luke Barker, the award winning cornet player with Flowers Band.

The former principal cornet of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain also won the Geneva Heritage Cornet International Slow Melody Competition in 2021 and has subsequently become a Geneva Young Ambassador.

Revitalisation

Speaking about the event, Sarah Baumann, Education Development Manager for Brass Bands England said: "BBE is delighted to contribute to this project which has seen a fantastic collaboration between Warwickshire Music Hub and local bands to join together to support the revitalisation of brass in the area."

In response, Richard Hart, of Warwickshire Music commented: "As a brass player and newly appointed leader of Warwickshire Music Service & Music Hub, raising the profile and engagement in brass playing across Warwickshire is one of my key priorities."

Opportunities

He added: "Working together with Brass Bands England has been a great way to form Warwickshire Youth Brass, the first course for which will be initiated this summer.

We hope this new collaboration will lead to a regular and growing series of Youth Brass opportunities for players of all ages and stages across Warwickshire over the coming months and years."

Find out more

To find out more and book a free place, email: warwickyouthbrasscourse@gmail.com