Sheffield Brass Network

Musical Heritage

Posted on December 19, 2022

‘An observation of our past and our future.’ An overview of the presentation made by Sheila Allen at the Brass Bands England (BBE) Conference October 2022. Sheila grew up in the heart of brass banding country in Yorkshire, learning to play the cornet (and the clarinet!) through the free provision offered at her middle school. After a family move to the midlands, she returned to her roots to study Music at the University of Huddersfield as a student of Phillip McCann. On her return to the midlands, she went on to build a successful private music teaching practice and later completed her Secondary Music Teaching Qualification, spending 14 years leading music, and later performing arts, in a local secondary school. […]

Climate Action

Posted on October 20, 2022

In association with the Arts Fundraising & Philanthropy Programme, the Sheffield Region Brass Network has published a new online guide to help brass bands adapt to a sustainable, resilient, and climate-changed future. The climate is changing around us and is impacting on everyone’s lives across the world. As a part of the creative industries sector brass bands are uniquely placed to play a leading role in driving change, and in transforming environmental understanding at a community level. Most current climate change adaptation guidance is aimed at large-scale organisations and is inappropriate for the scale of cultural community organisations like brass bands, or their creative activities. The suggestions on the Sheffield Region Brass Network website tailor specific guidance and an easy-to-follow […]

Recruiting and Retaining Members

Posted on April 10, 2022

At a recent Sheffield Brass Network online networking meeting we were really pleased to have Stephen McNally, Making Music UK Manager based in Northern Ireland, speak about recruiting and retaining members. On behalf of Making Music Stephen undertakes campaigning and advocacy for members of the leisure-time music community in general. Stephen’s presentation drew on research undertaken by Xenia Davis in 2016 for Making Music UK. This research suggests that ‘there is a drop-off in young people’s participation in music groups post-15, and that many don’t rediscover music making, if at all, until they are over 35.’ ‘Under-35s, at a potentially unsettled and sometimes difficult period in their lives (moving out of education and parental homes, starting out on a career, […]

Sheffield Region Brass Network – About Us:

Posted on February 4, 2021

The Sheffield Region Brass Network is a not-for-profit organisation originally established in 2013 by Rachel Veitch-Straw, David Morris and Stuart Young to increase the profile and visibility of brass bands in the Sheffield City Region UK through Information, Education and Advocacy by facilitating regular networking meetings and providing relevant online support where available. The Sheffield Region Brass Network is now administered by Joy Newbould, Stuart Young and Sophie Anderson. Joy Newbould BA PGCE – Chair Joy began her banding career aged 10 in Carlton Silver Band (Nottinghamshire); her highlight there, winning 3rd Section (1978) in London. Joy studied for a music degree at Bretton Hall College. Whilst there, Joy played with several Yorkshire bands under such luminaries as Peter Kitson, Ray […]

Audience development

Posted on May 14, 2020

At the recent Sheffield Brass Network event, “Better contact with the media and your audience”, Dr Sarah Price was invited to give a presentation on ‘Understanding audiences for the contemporary arts’. Dr Sarah Price is an audience researcher and member of the Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre (SPARC), a Research Associate for the AHRC-funded project ‘Understanding Audiences for the Contemporary Arts’, and, at the time of her presentation, had just reached the culmination of a 2½ year study working with arts organisations in Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Bristol and Sheffield to explore how people engage with contemporary dance, theatre, music, visual art and everything in between to develop strategies for recruiting and retaining new audiences. Sarah took the opportunity at […]

Effective Social Media and blogging for bands

Posted on February 2, 2020

At the recent Sheffield Brass Network event, “Better contact with the media and your audience”, Alex Burns was invited to give a presentation on ‘Effective Social Media and blogging for bands’. Alex has a music performance degree at the University of Sheffield, an MA in Musicology, works alongside several local music organisations and currently holds a trumpet residency with the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as playing cornet with the Yorkshire Championship Section Old Silkstone Band. Alex also administrates the award-winning Classicalexburns classical music blog. Here’s a synopsis of what Alex revealed about social media at the event: What can social media do for my band? – Reach new audiences – Keep your already engaged audiences up to date with […]

8 Hints and tips for photographing live music ensembles

Posted on August 10, 2019

As a lifelong player in Brass Bands, Joy Newbould, tenor horn player with Chapeltown Silver Prize Band as well as a professional Photographer, has put together a list of useful guidelines to follow when trying to capture live music ensembles with your camera. 1 Avoid being intrusive – Images of individuals in action within music groups will require a lens of 150mm minimum in order for you to stand back and zoom in. This will ensure the players are not put off by your presence, which will inevitably upset both them and their conductors! Remember why they are there – it isn’t to smile or look down your lens! 2 Look for expressions on the faces of the players to […]

Wellbeing in Brass Bands

Posted on June 16, 2019

A new research article authored by Dr Victoria J. Williamson and Dr Michael Bonshor, of the Department of Music, University of Sheffield, UK, published by ‘Frontiers in Psychology Journal’ reports on ‘Wellbeing in Brass Bands: The Benefits and Challenges of Group Music Making’. This original research began life a couple of years ago with a survey distributed with the assistance of Brass Bands England. Recent studies by others have focussed upon the apparent benefits of singing in choral situations, however, in this new study by Drs Williamson and Bonshor they have, ‘identified wellbeing themes that are less common in choral research; impacts relating to the brass bands’ physical demands, competitive tradition, community roles, and cross-generational social structures.’ The anonymous survey […]

How To Write A Press Release

Posted on April 18, 2019

Every brass band could have a marketing officer, or, at the very least, someone who is good with words and can turn their hand to preparing a page of text from time to time. In this digital age it is even more important to have someone in your organisation who can craft a quality sentence, with correct and concise grammar, and exemplify your band’s exploits in your chosen media as often as possible. Whether your band sends press releases to the media, sticks them on your website or simply uses them to ensure a consistent message across your social media outlets, a well-written press release is still one of the most useful communication tools. First of all, it’s important to […]

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