Brass bands mourn a major trumpet

Brass bands mourn a major trumpet

RIP

norman lebrecht

February 07, 2023

The family have announced the death of Geoffrey Brand at the age of 96.

From a Salvation Army family in Gloucester, Geoffrey Brand played trumpet in the Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia and Covent Garden orchestras before gravitating to brass bbands in the 1960s.

Under his eadership the Black Dyke Mills Band won the National Championships in 1967 and 1972, the British Open Championships in 1968 and 1972 and the World Championship in 1970.

He also conducted the London Wind Orchestra and various BBC ensembles.

Comments

  • TNVol says:

    Thank you for this story.

  • sore_lips says:

    Wonderful conductor and a gentleman.

  • Lawrie says:

    I know a good proofreader you could use

  • Michael Turner (conductor) says:

    We shouldn’t forget Geoffrey’s work as an arranger and music publisher. In my early working days at the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, I used to enjoy an annual trip out to see Geoffrey, discuss the trials and tribulations that we both might have been facing and then, over a pub lunch, he’d regale me stories from his performing career. A true gent.

  • Ivan Hunter says:

    Sorry to hear this news. However, to correct your reporting, Black Dyke did not win the World Championship in 1970. I was a member of the National Band of New Zealand which won that particular title.

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