2025 National Champion Desford Colliery Band is once again preparing to fly across the globe to embark on a landmark tour later this month to Vietnam.

It will see them celebrate a 20th year of touring in the region, and over 40 years of international performances.

Ho Chi Minh City

Led by conductor Jonathan Pippen, they will perform, educate, and inspire through a series of concerts, engagements and workshops in Ho Chi Minh City, with a particular emphasis on linking up with young musicians.

Desford will deliver workshops for a range of groups at the British International School, alongside a series of smaller concerts designed to give students a close-up experience of elite-level brass band performance.

Ethos

It continues an ethos set from the very first Desford tour in offering new generations of potential performers a unique insight into brass ensemble playing and musicianship.

The tour will also include a formal recital concert at Ton Duc Thang University, one of Vietnam's leading institutions, showcasing the diversity and variety of brass band repertoire, before the tour concludes with a concert at the British High Commission.

Ambassadors

A spokesperson told 4BR: "Performing in such a setting underlines the band's role as cultural ambassadors, representing not only Desford and the Midlands, but the very best of British brass banding on the world stage.

It also continues the band's long-standing commitment to overseas touring, using music as a means of cultural exchange and inspiration."