Brass Bands England has confirmed that following a third round of applications the City of Bristol Band will take part in its award-winning 'Elevate' programme.

The collaborative initiative brings together brass bands with artists from a wide range of different communities to work together over a nine-month partnership.

Eastern and Western

City of Bristol is the current West of England First Section Area champion and will work with Sonic Threads Duo — innovative artists whose mission is to merge Eastern and Western influences to create unique and powerful performances.

This third round follows on from the critical success of the first two projects.

They saw Freckleton Band link up with director, Jamie Sophia Fletcher to produce a celebration of brass bands, drag cabaret and queer culture, whilst Weymouth Concert Brass recently connected with composer Rebecca Denniff to produce a compositional exploration of the medicinal plants and herbs of the Isle of Portland.

Sonic Threads

Sonic Threads is an acclaimed duo renowned for their innovative and daring musical outlook.

Supriya Nagarajan is a composer and singer who creates rich, dreamy soundscapes that combines her Indian musical background with contemporary classical music.

Harpist Lucy Nolan uses a combination of rag inspired music, free improvisation and electronics which weave a unique sonic tapestry drawing on influences from jazz, Carnatic and Western Classical music.

The idea is that together we'll create something with a distinct sound that transcends cultural and genre boundaries — we're excited at the prospect of these different musical worlds colliding!Sonic Threads

Looking forward

Speaking about their involvement, the duo said: "We are looking forward to creating and performing a new piece with City of Bristol Band.

We plan to start by workshopping composition ideas based upon improvisation and movement, whilst also exploring the use of airflow and brass sounds."

They added: "The idea is that together we'll create something with a distinct sound that transcends cultural and genre boundaries — we're excited at the prospect of these different musical worlds colliding!"

Community outcome

In response, City of Bristol MD, Craig Roberts, said: "The band have a heritage of collaboration, from performing beneath the wings of Concorde at Aerospace Bristol, to playing with a massed choir at Bristol Cathedral last year.

We're really looking forward to including all parts of the organisation in this project, including our training band, and bringing the outcome into our community through both workshops and performances."

Round 4 applications

Applications for Round 4 of Elevate will open on Monday 9th September via the Elevate page on the Brass Bands England website.

To find out more go to: https://www.bbe.org.uk/elevate