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The National Youth Brass Band consists of New Zealand’s most talented young brass and percussion musicians. The band members are all under twenty-three years of age and are selected from nationwide auditions. Each player must re-audition annually with the current Musical Director. Many band members have gone on to professional musical careers.
The band had its beginnings in 1959 with a youth training course. Courses were organised over the years in various towns on an irregular basis and there were two overseas tours. In 1998 Nigel Weeks (ex-Tredegar Band of Wales) initiated a new format and the summer course became an annual event, with guest artists and tours throughout New Zealand. This regularity has resulted in an increased standard of playing, and some of the most technically demanding music written for brass band is now performed with aplomb by the ensemble.
Members of the National Youth Brass Band have been fortunate to be tutored by some of the best players from New Zealand’s top brass bands and symphony orchestras. They have also had the opportunity to work with outstanding international guest soloists, including Robert Childs (euphonium), Simone Rebello (percussion), and Nick Hudson (trombone) as well as Clyde Dixon and Phillip Johnston of the New Zealand Army Band. In 2001 Ray Farr, a renowned British conductor now living in Norway, was the guest musical director of our National Youth Brass Band. In 2002 Kenneth Young, former principal tuba and resident conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, led the band on a South Island tour.
Brass Aotearoa was commissioned to coincide with the band’s ‘ANZAC’ Tour of the United Kingdom in April 2003.
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