Tapton School Brass Band was formed in 1994, by its present musical director, Pat Phillips. Since then it has gone from strength to strength and increasingly attracted so much interest from young people outside Tapton School, that it has recently received the new status of Tapton Youth Brass Band. The band has become very well known in the Sheffield area, is in great demand both locally and further afield, and also gives concerts for charity.

 

An Award-Winning Band...

 

From the very start, Tapton Brass has been an award-winning band. Its first ever competition entry, in the National Festival of Music for Youth 1996, resulted in the chance to play in London’s Royal Festival Hall. Only a year later the band entered the competition again and this time its fantastic performance in the Royal Festival Hall (see photo above) led to the band being awarded the highly coveted “Outstanding Performance” Award. As a result the band was invited to play in a Schools' Prom in the Royal Albert Hall, London. This was only the start of its achievements....

 

Further Success...

 

Following its success, Tapton Brass was invited to perform in a concert with the world famous King’s Singers in Sheffield City Hall in 1998. At the same time, the band produced its first CD. This provided the initial capital to fund its next project; a tour to Switzerland. Members worked extremely hard to raise the money for this, giving several prestigious concerts and holding fundraising events. The resulting tour was a huge success and the band was extremely well received by the Swiss audiences. Members of the Sheffield Inner Wheel were so impressed with the work of Tapton Brass that they donated all funds from their charity work for a year. The end of 1998 saw the release of another CD.

 

More Recently...

 

Last year the band proved ever popular giving numerous performances at different venues. The most significant of these was one hosting the world famous euphonium soloist, Bob Childs. Closely following was another successful tour abroad, this time to Austria. The Twentieth Century drew to a close seeing the band entertain tirelessly, at numerous venues including The Tapton Masonic Hall, Meadowhall, Sainsbury's and of course at Tapton School Christmas Concerts.

 

A New Millennium...

 

Still keeping up the pace, the band has many successful achievements “under its belt” this millennium, not the least its concert in Dewsbury, which earned it the opportunity to perform at the Royal Festival Hall, London, yet again. This time it was a double honour because the 10-piece Senior Brass Ensemble performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the same day, also for the National Festival of Music for Youth. Both gave superb performances and the Brass Band received the“Outstanding Performance” award, leading to another appearance at the Royal Albert Hall for the Schools Prom. An extremely successful tour of Holland and Paris was a highlight of the summer. An ongoing project has been the recording of a third CD which has just been released, helping towards raising funds for the purchase of much needed new instruments. In anticipation of numerous concerts members strive now to prepare new programmes which will be a credit to the reputation of Tapton Brass and its inimitable Musical Director, Pat Phillips.