News

In a continued campaign to increase opportunities for young brass players around the UK, Black Dyke Band has initiated a Young Artist Scheme, designed to support a young soloist for a twelve month period. The concept follows on from the 'Young Composer-in-Association' scheme in helping a young talent and promoting them within the brass band movement, as well as further afield. 

Matthew White, aged 17 from Bolton, is named as first recipient

On Saturday May 31st, during Black Dyke's performance at York Minster, euphonium player Matthew White was named as the first ever recipient of the title. 

Matthew has already appeared as a soloist with Black Dyke as part of the Radio 2 Young Soloist Competition and has been carving a name for himself through a line of successful competition and concert appearances. During the last twelve months he has appeared as a soloist with Leyland Band at Regent's Hall, London, given an award winning performance of the Elgar Howarth Concerto at Chetham's School and has been a recitalist at the Bergen Festival, Norway. This September, Matthew will become part of the coveted euphonium department at the Royal Northern College of Music where he will continue his studies with David Thornton. 

David commented, "Matthew is a huge talent, his technique is fantastic, but the most impressive aspect is his performance skills - we want to help him achieve his full potential by giving him opportunities that he might not otherwise have. He really has the ability to become one of the movement's top players."

After the announcement, an excited Matthew commented, "It's a great honour and has topped off a fantastic final year at Chetham's! I'm looking forward to the prospect of starting at the RNCM with these opportunities in front of me."

Dr Nicholas Childs added, " Our recent Young Composer schemes, working successively with Peter Meechan and Paul Lovatt-Cooper have been a great success, and it seems natural to extend the idea to young performers. It was a real pleasure working with Matthew for Radio 2, and he has proved to be a fine player and a well-rounded individual. We are eager to give him some broader exposure in the coming months."

Black Dyke Band will once again present an open rehearsal at Morley Town Hall, this time for the English Nationals test piece Infinity by Robert Redhead. The rehearsal will start at 7.30pm on Thursday 26^th June and, as well as the open rehearsal and a full run through the test piece, Dr Childs will put on a short concert programme.

Admission is free and doors open at 7pm

Another development for the website is now being built, with the availability of a Press Kit which allow you to download photos and biographies of the band. Many of the biographies and already available there, and we will be adding photos in the coming few days including individual player's photos and a new Band photo taken at the Sage Theatre last month.

The Saturday Gala Concert is now avaialble on the Watch Us page of this website.

This remarkable concert includes the world premiere of the new commissioned cornet solo Sonatina, by Elgar Howarth, played by Richard Marshall, Ben Hur which was played to a background from the movie playing whilst the band played the piece (and timed to perfection!) and the second half which was given to the complete Enigma Variations.

Those of you who missed the Black Dyke Brass Festival can still get a taste of what is was all about. Sunday's concert is now available on the "Watch us" page of this website.

The first half includes: Academic Fanfare by Peter Graham, Legend of Sangeet by Philip Harper featuring Sitar Soloist Mohamed Assani, and concluding with Philip Wilby's Paganini Variations

The second half starts with the march Slaidburn, followed by the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band playing Paul Lovatt-Cooper's Dream Catchers and the finale is Elgar Howarth's Fireworks conducted by the composer.

Black Dyke Band is pleased to announce that Alex Kerwin has joined the band on Flugel Horn with immediate effect.

Alex was brought up in the heart of the brass band world in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. She began playing the cornet at the age of seven. Her teachers included Phillip McCann and James Shepherd.

At the age of 17 she was appointed principal cornet of Carlton Main Frickley and at the age of 18 became the first female member of James Shepherd Versatile Brass, this is where she met her future husband, Simon Kerwin. She has also played with CWS Glasgow and YBS as well as being in demand across Europe and Worldwide as a guest artiste.

Since the age of 19 Alex has lived in Norway, Scotland and New Zealand, where she has amassed several trophies, including the Best Soloist Prize in the Elite section at Siddis Brass 1996, Best Instrumentalist at the New Zealand National Championships, Best Soloist at New Zealand Band of the Year, Best Soloist at Brass in Concert 2003 on soprano cornet and also being crowned British Open Solo Champion in 2003 on Bb cornet.

Dr Nicholas Childs, Director of Music at Black Dyke said "I am delighted to welcome Alex to Black Dyke, as a full time member of the band; she is an extremely talented instrumentalist who I am sure will establish herself as one of our leading soloists."

Alex Kerwin said "It is the pinnacle of my dreams to be appointed flugel soloist with Black Dyke. Since playing on soprano with Black Dyke in 2004 I have forged a strong friendship with the band and I am looking forward to a long and fruitful time here. It is an honour."

Back copies of Black Dyke's in house magazine "The Bugle" are now available to download from the website on the Friends page. Friends of Black Dyke Band receive their copies of the Bugle by post 4 times a year, and details of how to become a Friend are also available on the same page.

Of course, only old versions of the magazine will be available on the website. For example, the recently distributed Issue 50 will not be loaded on the site until Friends receive the next Issue 51 which is planned to go out in the next four weeks.

This is part of a series of ongoing developments for the website, and more news of further improvements will follow

We are proud to announce that the two concerts this weekend at the inaugural Brass Festival at the Headingley Campus of Leeds Metropolitan University will be shown live over the internet facilitated by the resources available at the University. 

The first concert, starting on Saturday night at 7.30, will include a live performance of Black Dyke Band playing to the chariot race scene from the film of Ben Hur which will be shown simultaneously on a projected film. This concert will also feature the World Premiere of Elgar Howarth's new cornet solo, Sonatina, performed by Richard Marshall. 

The second concert, starting Sunday afternoon at 2.30pm and including the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band, will incorporate Paganini Variations by Philip Wilby, Fireworks by Elgar Howarth and Dream Catchers by Paul Lovatt-Cooper. 

The concerts can be watched live by following this link:

 http://video-2.leedsmet.ac.uk/Live.aspx?EI=live2

After 9 years as Black Dyke's Flugel Horn Soloist, John Doyle has decided to resign from the Black Dyke Band. John commented. "I have given 100% to Black Dyke for nine years. After studying Dyke's schedule, I had a number of clashes due to my solo playing, increasing conducting commitments and of course, school duties.  Following a meeting, the decision was agreed by both Dr Nicholas Childs and myself to take a break from Black Dyke."

Nicholas Childs commented, "After a superb performance at the Yorkshire Area, John and I have agreed that it would be the perfect time for him to take a break from Black Dyke. He is an invaluable member on, and off stage for the band. However, he has become increasingly busy with conducting and solo engagements.  He will be missed greatly at Black Dyke, and I am sure it will not be the last we see of him."

John continued, "It has been a remarkable journey. During my time at Black Dyke we have won 3 Areas, 2 Nationals, 2 Opens and 1 European. I have recorded 4 solos, played for the Queen, performed on ‘Groundforce' and ‘Dinnerladies', featured in the Millennium Dome, recorded with Peter Gabriel, The Eels, Moby, Craig David, The Beautiful South and Jules Holland. I cannot thank Nick enough for making this happen for me. He has helped my career more than anyone else and his work with the band is inspirational. I wish him, and of course everyone involved with the Black Dyke family, all the best for the future."

John is now actively pursuing other projects. He is booked to be soloist with the Wingates band in the Cadogen Hall in London, as part of the Nyman festival on the 7^th June. He is also Musical Director of the Lancashire Schools Symphony Orchestra and will be conducting them at the RNCM on the 29^th June.

Black Dyke won the Yorkshire Regional Championships in Bradford on Sunday 2nd March playing Eric Ball's Festival Music. It was a long day for the band who were drawn last and played on stage at 9.30pm. Richard Marshall won the Best Soloist Award and David Thornton picked up the Best Instrumentalist Award. The band had already qualified for the finals at the Albert Hall in London in October by virtue of a top four placing last year, and they will be joined from Yorkshire by Grimethorpe Colliery, Carlton Main Frickley and Rothwell Temperance bands.

Dr. Nicholas Childs commented "I was delighted with the quailty of performance from Dyke which had the hallmarks of a special event with Richard Marshall and David Thornton expressing themselves beautifully."

Black Dyke Band will once again present an open rehearsal at Morley Town Hall, this time for the Yorkshire Regional Final test piece Festival Music by Eric Ball. The rehearsal will start at  7.30pm on Thursday 28^th February and, as well as the open rehearsal and a full performance of the test piece, Dr Childs will put on a short concert programme. 

Admission is free and doors open at  7pm

Black Dyke Band is proud to announce the inaugural Brass Festival which will take place at the Gandhi Hall, Leeds Metropolitan University, Headingley Campus over the weekend of April 4^th to April 6^th 2008. 

The Festival Administrator, Alison Childs, explained "The concept comes from the creative team of Professor Philip Wilby and Dr. Nicholas Childs to showcase the band and its music and we are thrilled that Elgar Howarth has accepted to be our Inaugural Artistic Director." 

Nicholas Childs commented "We are delighted to have a musician of Howarth's stature to be Artistic Director and it seemed fitting that we should commission him to write a major new work for our star cornet soloist, Richard Marshall with the world premiere in the Gandhi Hall." 

Philip Wilby enthused 'The whole concept of a Black Dyke Festival is rich with possibilities. As the band's horizons widen, we need new opportunities to develop our individual visions, building on the work that we have started in recent years. This first Festival, with Elgar Howarth at the helm, will showcase major initiatives from David Thornton, and Joe Cook, as well as premiering Howarth's new work for cornet and band, and using the combined talents of our own in-house writers as well. It will be a pleasure to take part.' 

The event starts on Friday with an ensemble of the Black Dyke Band playing compositions from some of the Young Composers of the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band, where Elgar Howarth and Philip Wilby will be offering their experience to the composers. 

On Saturday afternoon, there is an opportunity for any players of "lower brass", including euphoniums, baritones and basses, to join in a "Spotlight" workshop to enjoy a few hours of tuition and music making with David Thornton and Joseph Cook, concluding with a recital at the end of the afternoon. 

Saturday evening will be the Festivals first Gala Concert at 7.30pm preceded by a talk by Elgar Howarth, Professor Philip Wilby and Dr Nicholas Childs who will explain more about the programme. The Gala Concert, by Black Dyke Band, includes Walking With Heroes by Paul Lovatt-Cooper, and a performance to a projected film of the exciting chariot race from Ben Hur as well as the World Premiere of the new cornet work commissioned by Elgar Howarth.   

The conclusion to the Festival will be on Sunday afternoon at 2.30pm, when the Black Dyke Band and the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band will perform a concert conducted by Elgar Howarth and Nicholas Childs which will include Howarth's Fireworks, Wilby's Paganini Variations and Paul Lovatt-Cooper's Dream Catchers. Again there will be a pre-concert talk by Elgar Howarth, Professor Philip Wilby and Dr Nicholas Childs starting at 1.45pm. 

Free admission to the Saturday afternoon Lower Brass Spotlight event can be arranged by emailing David Thornton thorntoneuph@hotmail.com or by calling Joseph Cook on 07773 374064. Admission to the Friday evening Composers Collective in the Jubilee Room at 8pm is also free. Tickets for the Saturday evening concert, or the Sunday afternoon concert, priced £10 each, are available from Leeds Town Hall Box Office, telephone number 0113 224 3801. 

All enquiries about the Festival should be directed to the Festival Administrator Alison Childs on 01457 820138

A video preview of the new Elgar CD, including an exclusive interview with Sir Colin Davis by Professor Philip Wilby and a clip of Sir Colin conducting the band at Cadogan Hall in London earlier this month, has been posted on YouTube by World of Brass. It can be seen by clicking on this link http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=B-60nRY1qnE

We have plans in place to include similar video footage for all our future CD releases which will be published on our own website. To read more about the recording of Elgar’s Severn Suite with Sir Colin Davis, click on our new Musical Associates page to see the article by Professor Philip Wilby.

A new page has been added to the web site to featrure the constributions from our Musical Associates, Professor Philip Wilby and Paul Lovatt-Cooper.

The first article to be published here is Philip Wilby\'s account of the recording at Cadogan Hall, London, of Elgar\'s Severn Suite conducted by Sir Colin Davis on January 5th 2008.

Please let us have your feedback (secblackdykeband@btinternet.com), and watch this space for more changes to the website coming soon.

During the final concert of Black Dyke Band's 2007 concert season at Huddersfield Town Hall on Sunday 23rd December, three presentations were made to members of the band.

The Pondasher Award was given to Solo Tuba player Joseph Cook, and the Bandsman Of The Year was the Principal Cornet player, Richard Marshall. Also during the evening, a presentation was made to the Administrator Emeritus Geoffrey Whiteley who was presented with a carriage clock from Mike Shenton, with the inscription "Presented to Geoffrey Whiteley from the Members and Trustees of Black Dyke Band at Huddersfield Town Hall on 23rd December 2007 in grateful thanks for many years of service as Administrator, and in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his British Open win playing Helen Perkins' Carnival".   

Richard Marshall's Solo CD Eminence has scooped all of the awards this year, winning the Best Solo CD of the Year from British Bandsman, Brass Band World and 4Barsrest. 4Barsrest also voted Vienna Nights as the Best CD of the Year. Both of these recordings are available from our online shop, and are also on sale at concerts. 

Now available - under the Shop section of this website - is a free ringtone. When your phone rings you can choose to have the Black Dyke Band play Queensbury to alert you (and those around you!) that a call is waiting.

We are sorry that we can not offer technical asistance to you to help you download this, but we are confident that you will either have the knowledge yourself or somewhere within your family to help you do this. Please give us feedback by writing to our secretary Mike Shenton at secblackdykeband@btinternet.com

Those who use the band’s website will have noticed that a new, improved site was launched on November 27th. The new website, still located at www.blackdykeband.co.uk , is easier to keep up to date and so will include more news, published more frequently to make it worthwhile to check the site on a regular basis.

One major change is that merchandise, including CDs, will no longer be despatched from the band room but by our distribution partners, World of Brass, who are far better equipped to maintain high service levels and will offer a wider choice of branded products over the coming months. This will unfortunately mean that the Friend’s discount will only be available at concerts and not on CDs or merchandise purchased from the website.

Contact with the band will be easier than before, as Friends and supporters will now be able to write emails to our secretary at the address secblackdykeband@btinternet.com.

All of the sections in the previous website are included in the new site, but the section about the band will soon feature biographic details about all of the players rather than just the Principal players.

Plans for the future development of the site are already being made, and we will soon launch a section with contributions from our Music Associates, Professor Philip Wilby and Paul Lovatt-Cooper.

We look forward to receiving your feedback about the new website.

The Black Dyke Band is pleased to announce that Sandy Smith is welcomed back to the band on Solo Horn.

Nicholas Childs commented “Sandy is a wonderful player and a terrific musician, both of which will be a perfect partnership in our exciting schedule planned for next year.”

Sandy commented " I am thrilled to have been asked back to play at Black Dyke. They remain at the very forefront of banding, both musically and from an organisational point of view. I was obviously aware of how good the band are but have been equally impressed by the array of skilled background staff which Nick has assembled and look forward to another successful time with the band".

Peter Roberts, the impresario and legendary soprano player, has confirmed his intention to retire from playing, at Christmas.

Peter commented “I have had the most amazing time at Black Dyke, the highlights being winning both sections of the European and back to back wins at the British Open, along with numerous memorable concert performances”

Nicholas Childs commented “Peter is a special player, he has a fantastic legacy and the total respect from his fellow bandsmen.

Everyone at Black Dyke wishes Peter well in his new direction within the brass band movement, as he still has so much to offer.

Peter's last concerts with the band will be at Dewsbury on 14th December at Sheffield on 15th December.

Arfon Owen, the talented Solo Horn of Black Dyke, has decided to relinquish his position with immediate effect.

Arfon has just completed his PGCE course at the Royal Northern College of Music and has taken up his new position as Music and Drama Teacher at Wardle High School.

'It has been a difficult decision for me but with consultation from Nick Childs, I have decided to concentrate and give priority to my first professional position at Wardle High School. I look forward to developing my teaching career and to also ensure my tenor horn playing continues to reach its highest possibilities.'

Nicholas Childs commented “Arfon has risen through the ranks of Black Dyke, from 2nd to Solo Horn and now needs time to express himself as a new teacher and develop, as I know he can, as a great soloist. We all, at Black Dyke, wish him the very best and hope that he will be able to help out, when time allows.”

After intense review involving their principal players, The Black Dyke Band are pleased to announce the appointment of York Instruments, the brass division of Schreiber & Keilwerth Musical Instruments GmbH as 'Instruments of Choice' for the future replacement of their Cornets, Tenor Horns, Euphoniums, Baritones and Basses.

For Schreiber & Keilwerth, Managing Director Dr. Armin Eckert said: "We are delighted with the co-operation with The Black Dyke Band. The musicians from the Black Dyke Band will provide a rigorous test bed for our York instruments and also provide us an invaluable research and development source. We are looking forward to a long and fruitful partnership."

John Rogers who has been heavily involved in the York project and has been instrumental in brokering this agreement added: "I am very happy to renew my contact with the Black Dyke Band. The bands worldwide reputation for excellence fits perfectly with York's brand and product development plans."

The Black Dyke Band are please to announce the selection of Michael Rath Brass Musical Instruments Limited, as 'Instruments of Choice' for the replacement of Trombones.

Michael Rath, Managing Director of Michael Rath Brass Musical Instruments said: " We have been working with Brett Baker, Principal Trombone of The Black Dyke Band on instrument research and development over the past year, and are thrilled that the band have now selected our instruments for their Trombone section."

Additionally the band are pleased to announce that they have appointed Band Supplies Limited as their 'Dealers of Choice' for the provision and maintenance of their instruments.


Dr. Nicholas Childs

Director of Music