Throughout his globe-trotting career conducting orchestras and operas from Canada to the UK, or China to the USA, Bramwell Tovey has always found time to return to his roots to work with the British style brass band.

This unique combination of brass –cornets, tenor and baritone saxhorns (actually the alto and tenor instruments), euphoniums, trombones, tubas in E flat and B flat and percussion – is one of the UK's most significant but often undervalued musical exports. The British brass band can be heard in all corners of the globe. Its characteristic blend of brassy power and warm, 'vocal' lyricism can be experienced in Australia, New Zealand, in parts of Africa, Japan and the Far East, not to mention Canada and the USA. The 'brass band movement' as it is traditionally described by its aficionados in the UK also extends to many European countries, with young and vibrant brass communities throughout Scandinavia (Norway particularly), Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland and now growing in Germany, Austria and the Baltic states.

The brass band community is the UK especially has changed significantly in recent decades since the reduction of industrial and mining activity out of which it grew. However, the amateur brass band retains an active place in the musical life of the UK. Bramwell Tovey's contribution as inspiring conductor, inventive composer and admired mentor has proved increasingly influential.

As a boy in the 1950s and 60s, Bramwell's musical gifts were nurtured in the Salvation Army. This was an exceptionally creative period for SA brass bands and musical composition, with composers such as Ray Steadman-Allen, Leslie Condon and Wilfred Heaton bringing to the rather cloistered world of SA music a taste of the musical adventures of the 20th Century mainstream. In his brass band concerts, especially with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, Bramwell has often included SA band favourites as means of bringing this much loved repertoire before a wider audience.

Early in 1974, Bramwell Tovey, by now a freelance tubist with ambitions to conduct, was appointed the conductor of London's most famous subscription (or community) brass band of the period, the Hanwell Band, based in the West London Borough of Ealing. Under its previous conductor Eric Bravington, the band was a regular broadcaster and prize-winner in brass band contests. During Bramwell's two years as the band's professional conductor, the broadcasts, contests and recordings continued, including an LP recording in which he also appeared as tuba soloist (Four Preludes by Philip Greenwood). He also took the band on its first overseas tour, to Switzerland in 1975. After two years, and following his appointment as assistant conductor of London Festival Ballet, Bramwell was succeeded as professional conductor by Ifor James.

During the 1980's, Bramwell worked as the professional conductor with two of the leading bands in the Midlands, the City of Coventry Band and the Kettering-based GUS Band. This famous band has enjoyed a number of incarnations, depending on its sponsorship. Founded by the shoe manufacturers, Munn and Feltons, in 1933, the bandwas the National Champion two years later. Its success has continued under various names, GUS (Footwear), The GUS Band, Rigid Containers Group Band, Travelsphere Holidays Band and now the Virtuosi GUS Band. It's present conductor, John Berryman was the band's resident conductor during Bramwell's tenure, the crowning achievement of which was a winning performance at the 1988 British Open Championship, Free Trade Hall, Manchester, with (as I vividly recall) a scintillating performance of Contest Music (Wilfred Heaton).

Since the 1990s, Bramwell's international conducting career has been echoed in the brass bands with whom he has appeared as a welcome guest. His appearances with the Hannaford Street Band, a fully professional group based in Toronto, have included a number of high profile concerts as well as recordings, among them his own substantial work for chorus and brass band, Requiem for a Charred Skull. He has also appeared with Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag, one of the finest bands in Norway. However, it is with one of the UK's leading championships bands, Foden's, based near Sandbach in Cheshire, that he has been most closely associated as a regular guest conductor since 2000.

His competitive appearances with Foden's have always put musical matters before the 'sport' of contesting, while his concerts have been notable for their adventure and creativity. Three of his recordings with Foden's have won Best CD of the Year awards in the brass press. Bramwell has found working with Foden's on new repertoire, his own and that of others, especially rewarding: “Our recording together of contemporary works by George Benjamin, Judith Bingham, Kenneth Hesketh, Philip Wilby and several other major composers found Foden's at their most virtuosic. The opportunity to record my own music with Foden's, trombonist Joe Alessi, and violinist Mark Fewer hugely impressed me as the ensemble appreciated their changing role in each work. At first glance, it seems ludicrous to match a solo violin, unamplified, with a 25-piece brass ensemble, plus percussion, but Foden's sensitivity to the scoring and colours in Nine Daies Wonder and their ability to appreciate and understand the idiom made it a pleasure from start to finish. In concert Foden's is electrifying, responding to the conductor’s gestures with the precision of a world class orchestra.”

Since 2006, Bramwell has served with distinction as Artistic Director of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. Founded in 1952 by composer and BBC executive Denis Wright, the NYBBGB’s residential courses have been hugely influential in developing the skills and musicianship of young brass players. Many of its former member have gone on to major careers as professional brass musicians or distinguished amateur players within the brass bands. Working with the NYBBGB has been one of the most gratifying aspects of BT’s career: “This twice yearly highpoint in the lives of 80 or so young instrumentalists brings an astonishing focus of youthful energy and commitment to the works in hand. Their ability to bring off the most formidable scores in the repertoire and to respond to the endless hours of rehearsal and preparation leaves me breathless in admiration. There is a tremendous collective pride in belonging to this 60-year old institution. The privilege of following in the footsteps of musicians like Elgar Howarth, Dr. Roy Newsome, Arthur Butterworth, Geoffrey Brand and Dr. Denis Wright, is something I take very seriously indeed.”

On 12 August 2012, Bramwell made his BBC Proms debut at the helm of the NYBBGB in an acclaimed concert, shared with the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain. The NYBBGB's 60th Anniversary was celebrated with dynamic performances of a number of contemporary classics of the brass band repertoire, including Wildfire by John Pickard, Altitude by George Benjamin and Blitz by Derek Bourgeois.

Paul Hindmarsh

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