Brass in Concert is one of the blue ribband events in the UK brass calendar. Some of the best bands in the country are regularly joined by some brilliant visitors from both Europe and the USA.  It takes place in the opulent surrounding of the Sage Gateshead now having moved from its sports hall original home.  Frank has been intimately involved throughout its history and he recalls some of his best memories along with prize winning music and performances.

Siddis is one of the great entertainment events in the band world.  With competitions in several sections over the weekend it’s a real test of a bands programme building ingenuity and technical skill. Frank features some winning performances and recalls some highlights of his times there.  He also dips into the latest recording by Black Dyke and guides us through one of the most popular test pieces of all-time pieces Philip Wilby’s Paganini Variations, a piece that he conducted to Open...

Rhapsody in Brass by Dean Goffin was written for the British Open Brass Band Championships 70 years ago and it’s the first piece in Frank’s new feature celebrating significant band pieces which have really impressed and moved him over the years. Equally underplayed these days but heard here is A Country scene by Goff Richards and the Dawn of Freedom March which was recorded back in the 1970’s by the successful and fondly remembered Mirrlees Band. In the next Episode Frank talks Siddis which...

Frank thinks that Wilfred Heaton is one of the most innovative and exciting writers for brass band of the last century, and can’t think why his brilliance was not recognised and nurtured at the time.  He even signed one of his masterpieces in the name of Paul Krask; it was never performed. Hear how Howard Snell brought Heaton’s wonderful Partita for band to its rightful place in the banding repertoire.  We also have an early warning of ghosts and spooks and take this opportunity to celebrate...

Frank celebrates the talents of Richard Scott, one of our most respected and popular recording engineers who sadly died a few weeks ago. Let’s enjoy these wonderful recordings which demonstrate how, with his peerless skill, sensitivity and musicality, Richard encouraged and captured some of the very best  music making of his generation.

Frank has the final episode in his summer series highlighting the various places that the brass band gets much of its repertoire from. This one is all about arrangements of, for want of a better term, classical music.  There’s everything from music originally for solo flute to several parts of a Wagner opera woven together by Howard Snell creating one of the all-time master pieces of band music along the way. There are some really famous tunes used as just a starting point for new music or...

The second of 3 special episodes delving into the world of Brass Band crossover music sees Frank venture into the tricky territory of brass bands and jazz with some great crossover tracks and some stunning arrangements.  Is it brass band jazz if you just put a great soloists in front of the traditional lineup? Is it more satisfying to have a jazz arrangement for the whole band or is it best to make room for soloist already in the band? Duke Ellington said that too much talk just ‘stinks up...

As we hopefully enjoy some long hot summer days Frank gives us the first of 2 episodes delving into the world of Brass Band crossover music. Bands have always played arrangements of ‘the music of the day’ which means for the last 30 years or so a great deal of ‘rock and pop’.  Not all bands are totally happy with the style which is when they rely on the skill of arrangers such as Barry Forgie, Philip Harper, Michael Antrobus and Alan Fernie to weave some musical magic around the tunes. So we...

Here we have some truly great Euphonium playing from Glen Van Looy.  One of the pioneering soprano cornet players Brian Evans is joined by another legend Peter Roberts in musical combat and is there any trombone playing sweeter than that of the Danish star Jesper Juul?  Well judge for yourself as all the above combine with new recordings from Black Dyke, our own first CD Best of Brass, and a new Grand Contest March The Whale by Composer and Publisher Howard Lorriman. For Episode 33 we go all...

As we contemplate that delicious period of relative quiet and holidays before we plunge headlong into the autumn season of competition, here are some great tunes plus all the usual and unique Frank Renton insights into the music and the players. We hear a track from the first brasspass.tv cd release featuring recordings made at our own In Concert Series Best of Brass. There are also two brilliant cornet players bringing the house down at the Royal Albert Hall. David Thornton takes us into the...

Frank features one of the central pieces of 20th century band music; confesses that he finds dedicating a piece of music to the opening of a Finicula railway baffling but loves the piece, revisits the excellent new album by Katrina Marzella  and enjoys a beautiful Euphonium solo played by the talented Tormond Flaten.

Brass Band Blechklang take us on a Perilous Nordic Journey and it’s high time we heard a movement from the  Symphonic Suite for Brass by Eric Ball, a piece which Frank thinks is one of the best ever written for band . Featured also is a new track from a favourite band, we get a chance to revisit the story of a band that was on our UK TV screens for weeks on end and enjoy some updated 17th Century by Purcell who Philip Wilby called the first British composer of genius. We also hear new music...

A mix of new and classic recordings as Frank plays something oh so English from Welsh legends Cory. Baritone horn star Katrina Marzella is at the forefront of creating new repertoire for her instrument and her latest solo CD which includes this brand-new Concerto. Whit Friday is previewed with a rare performance of the Rimmer Arabian March played by the Harrogate Band and Mark Walters gets to reprise his masterful Concerto de Aranjuez.

David Thornton is rapidly becoming one of the most influential figures in the development of the brass band and its young musicians.  Frank got him on the business side of a Brasspass.tv microphone between their rehearsal and concert in Stoller Hall as they were preparing for that afternoon’s performance of a favourite piece of both soloist and conductor.  As conductor of Brighouse and Rastrick, Head of Brass Band Studies at RNCM,  brass teacher at Chet’s plus a flourishing solo career, David...

Frank Renton celebrates the first anniversary of his show with highlights from the many national and international competitions and unique events that BrassPass.tv have streamed over the last 12 months, and we’ve been to some great places together. So, enjoy again the winning performance of our Young Brass Award winner Siobhan Bates, expect the unexpected from SIDDIS, experience the uniqueness of a wet Whit Friday and listen to some of the finest bands we have in our own Best of Brass concert...

It’s time for a little stargazing. On board for the journey are Cory, Black Dyke, Manger Mussikklag and the ever-brilliant Philip Cobb as we swirl around a spiral galaxy, do a spot of planet hoping and come to rest by the light of the moon. Composer Carl Davies arrived in the UK in 1961 and just forgot to go home giving us his view of the Galaxies which, as arranged by Ray Farr, is as close as we’ve come to an original work for band from his inspired pen. And just when we thought all was...

A Musical Americana Brass Band Columbus formed in 1984 by Paul Droste are considered by many to be the fathers of the brass band culture in America. They feature in a classic Sousa March, in this, a programme of music from, or about, the USA. The Brass Band of Central Florida were always hot favourites for the US Open title with their bright and innovative programming, that was until a new band was formed in Kansas when Fountain City Brass Band proved to be real rivals. Music from Hollywood,...

The skill of the arranger is being able to adapt to any circumstance. With music by composers such as William Walton, Ravel or Zoltan Kodaly, the problem is to fit everything they wrote onto a 25-piece brass band.  When working from original music for piano, the arranger has to much more inventive.  In this episode we celebrate some of the most successful adaptations of glorious music from the opera house, the ballet and the concert hall plus we hear the occasional original masterpiece...

With Oscars in the air, this is an episode full of classic movie music. Frank includes several Award winners, a few near misses plus he has underrated music by John Williams and the magic of Vangelis.

Frank has important news about a change to the line up of our Young Brass Award,  Processes with The Nobles, marks the 40th anniversary of a great player and plays a track from the latest CD By Brighouse and Rastrick. 

How about music from 3 geniuses starting in 1786, moving on to one of the most innovative brass band voices of the last century, and ending with just about the most famous composer in American musical theatre. Frank also has some personal memories of a master musician whose death in 2007 robbed the band world of one of its most inspirational leaders. 

8 have become 4 in this hour long special revealing and featuring the Finalists for the first BrassPass.tv Young Brass Award.  They were selected at the Semi-Final held on January 13th in the Carole Nash Hall in Manchester.  Plus, there’s music from one of our greatest arrangers, a well loved hymn tune gets deconstructed and Frank goes and ‘Tells it on the Mountain’. 

We hear a brilliant Euphonium star from the other side of the world, celebrate the sound of the brass band of decades ago, and enjoy the truly classic sound of a world beating cornet star.  

The Brass Band Podcast brings you news, interviews and analysis from across the banding world. Dave Kinross and Kenny Crookston also look to challenge thinking and stimulate respectful debate so that new ideas can come forward for the good of the movement.

Frank Renton has the names of our BrassPass.tv Young Brass Award Semi Finalists who will trying to impress judges Katy Jones, Principal Trombone of the Halle Orchestra and conductor and cornet virtuoso Russell Gray on January 13th in Manchester’s Stoller Hall. Dear to his heart is Grimethorpe and they are his feature band. Foden’s have teamed up with star trumpet player Mike Lovatt and Frank has possibly the only solo recording from Euphonium legend Harry Mather