Brackley & District Band was formed in the mid 1970s when a group of young musicians finished their time at school, but still wanted to enjoy playing in a Brass Band. Soon after this our Junior Band was also started. For over 30 years it has been based in the Band Club in the centre of Brackley. Some players still remain from the early days.
The Band has contested at all levels over the years and our purple patch was through the mid eighties when, under the leadership of David Williams, were ranked in the highest Championship Section competing against some of the top bands in the country.
Over the last 10 years or so the Band has been mostly conducted by Jason Glynn, who started off in the band as a young lad on Cornet in the 80s, then went off to make a name for himself before returning to take the band to 2nd place at the National Finals in 2002, which also entitled us to go up into the 1st secion where we have managed to stay since. David Richards, Senior Drum Major in the RAF, took us for a turn in 2008 which included the recording of our first CD, Moods In Brass. Geoff Riseley helped us out before Jason returned for his second long stint as MD up until 2011.
Since Autumn 2011, John Durrant has been our Musical Director, and he is a true all-round bandsman, having had a noted soloist career, many arrangements to his name, and now our conductor and trainer he intends to drive our band on to higher standards both technically and musically. Before taking his first rehearsal he’d already prepared challenging and entertaining music programmes to guarantee there’ll be something enjoyable for us to play and you to listen to at our upcoming performances.
The band’s recent free local concerts have increased the awareness and profile of the band in the community, and these are set to continue. A wide variety of concert performances have received very positive feedback. The band’s bread and butter during the Summer season is playing at many and varied private and village events across the surrounding counties, and they keep asking us back! Our biggests gigs of the year are playing the opening concert of the Brackley Music Festival fortnight, and our sell-out Christmas Concert in Brackley. If you wish to hire the band then the full 25 piece Brass Band sound is superb for larger rooms and outdoor events. If you are worried about the cost or require more of a “chamber orchestra” type thing then we are also set up to provide smaller ensembles for dinner parties and indoor engagements, but still with that spine-tingling smooth brass band sound.