Brass Bands England: Pass the brass

Sarah Baumann joined Brass Bands England (BBE) in February 2019, bringing a wealth of experience in delivery of educational arts projects in schools. Although not a brass player, Baumann is a keen musician and saxophone player, and studied music at the University of York. Her role at BBE is focused on the delivery of the development workshop series, annual conference and the Brass Foundations education programme.

Baumann is also a trustee for the youth music development charity NYMAZ, and is involved with a number of different arts organisations, advising them on all things marketing and audience development. Here, she tells us more about BBE and its work with young people.

What is BBE Brass Foundations, who is it for, and what are its core aims and values?

At its core, Brass Foundations’ remit is very simple: to sustain the future of brass banding. Simple, maybe; small, definitely not. Our education programme is led by a team of five Youth Brass development specialists based in Warwickshire, Lancashire, London, Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire, who between them have the remit of:

• Supporting musical youth organisations by supplying support, ideas, and resources.
• Delivering educational activity directly to children and young people in youth bands and schools.
• Facilitating local bands to invigorate their own youth programmes, where they exist, and to start new ones where they don't.
• Promoting the recruitment and coaching of new young brass players in the locality.
• Acting as a direct conduit between partner organisations representing and feeding into our member bands.

Partnership working and joining the dots between community bands, music hubs, and schools is at the heart of what we do. The recently published National Plan for Music Education rightly recognises community music making as a vital part of the music education ecology – Brass Foundations is here to make sure that brass banding is valued as a progression route for young brass players across the country.

What are some of the notable Brass Foundations projects from the last year?

There are so many to choose from! In Warwickshire, we have worked closely with a group of local bands and Warwickshire Music Hub to provide a county-wide brass course for young players in the area, giving the opportunity for young players from hub ensembles and community brass bands to come together. The first course took place in July 2022 with the next planned for November 2022.

In Camden, a new youth ensemble – the Camden Brass Band – has been established in partnership with Camden Music Hub, providing an opportunity for young people between Year 6 and Year 9 who are currently or have previously learned a brass instrument through a whole class ensemble teaching (WCET) programme and providing a necessary progression route for them.

What has the reaction to Brass Foundations been like so far? Do you have any examples from schools you can share?

Direct feedback collected from projects involving nearly 2,000 participants showed that 100 per cent felt that the children and young people involved were enthused about brass playing, 88 per cent were happier and had an overall improved mood, and 47 per cent had committed to joining an ensemble to continue playing. Follow ups will continue over the next six months to track the progression of individual children continuing their playing and the progress of new ensembles.

When BBE asked young people at Harting Church of England Primary School in West Sussex how playing as part of a band made them feel, they said:

• ‘It makes me feel free and like I can put all my happiness into playing.’
• ‘Happy that I've managed to learn something this hard because I didn't know how to play it at all when I first saw it, and also it's just so fun and makes me happy.’
• ‘Brass band makes me feel really comfortable and it's just fun.’

What do you think it is that attracts people to brass playing and brass bands?

Although we have a large focus on supporting diversity in the banding sector, it is already the case that people from all walks of life find themselves in the band room. Banding is a creative place to be with a high focus on celebrating new music, high-quality music making and welcoming community. Everywhere in the country, there is a band that's right for you.

Based in Camden, but hailing from New Zealand, is Deirdre Waller-Box. Although Dee had been running school-based brass bands for years, she had only really experienced the UK banding scene after joining the Brass Bands England team. On this, she said: ‘Being drawn into the banding world has been both eye opening and inspiring. Some bits are easy to understand; others make me wish someone had written a guidebook to banding in England – one with a thorough glossary and large FAQ section!

‘But despite all the questions, some things are obvious. It's clear there is a strong, welcoming community of people, passionate about their bands and about seeing them grow and flourish. From bands that work to achieve the highest possible levels of musicianship you will find anywhere in the world to those who meet to share the joy of making music together, it seems that this is banding.’

What are your plans for the future of Brass Foundations?

Ambition isn't something that we struggle with at Brass Bands England. Of course, we want to grow the capacity of the team we have now. Our dream scenario is to have a Brass Foundations team member in every nook and cranny of the country so we can have an impact everywhere. I'm confident that will happen, but before we look to expand, we'll be spending the next academic year focused on delivering the best work possible, evaluating, and data gathering so we can serve our members and the sector to the best of our ability.

The pilot phase has been invaluable in understanding what the future of our education and outreach offer looks like. Brass Foundations will always be at the heart of it. Our next phase will be increasingly focused on engaging more disadvantaged children and young people, working with music hubs to identify those facing the greatest barriers, such as living in rural isolation or poverty, those who speak English as a foreign language, or who are experiencing mental health issues.

We want to be more impactful and more purposeful. An area we'll be increasingly prioritising is youth voice, looking at how we can be guided by the young people we work with, and how we can support bands across the country to do the same.

You can get in touch directly with the team member in your area to see how they can help.

• Sheila Allen (Midlands): sheila@bbe.org.uk

• Paul McLaughlin (South West): paul.mclaughlin@bbe.org.uk

• Helen Minshall (North West): helen@bbe.org.uk

• Deirdre Waller-Box (London): dee@bbe.org.uk

• Paul Fisher (South East): paul.fisher@bbe.org.uk

• Sarah Baumann (National): sarah@bbe.org.uk

• www.bbe.org.uk