Fanfare for Brass Bands

Black and white image of six men. Four are seated, wearing military uniforms and holding bass brass instruments. Two are wearing dinner suits and are standing behind the seated men. In the middle is a very large ornate trophy.
Members of St Hilda’s Band in an advert for instrument makers Besson

We are absolutely delighted to now be home to the 80,000+ items in the Brass Band Archive.   The collection includes scores, recordings, photographs, trophies, programmes and more. All this belongs to Brass Bands England, the national body which supports the genre, who have worked closely with specialist staff at the University to prepare the materials for the move to Heritage Quay.

Behind the scenes image of an archive strong room. A woman with long red hair is unwrapping trophies on a table. There are pencils, cotton tape and tags on the table. In the background are boxes on storage racking.
Assistant Archivist Fran Horner unwrapping brass band trophies in the Heritage Quay Strong Room

The collection’s arrival in Huddersfield has been years in the making. The archive was started in a flat in Wigan, by two band players keen to preserve the banding movement’s history. It was acquired by Brass Bands England in 2018 and moved to their store in Barnsley which they decided what to do with it. Luckily for Huddersfield, they thought that Heritage Quay might be interested in taking it in and making it available. BBE recruited staff and volunteers who spent many painstaking hours sorting, listing and re-boxing the materials before they made the short journey to Heritage Quay. As one of banding’s heartlands, it is fitting that the collection is coming to live in Huddersfield as a brilliant new resource for the musical life of the town. The catalogue, which lists all the items in the collection, can be found online here.

Hat from a brass band uniform. The peak is shiny black, the hat band is black with gold trimming, and the rest of the hat is purple. The badge is gold, and has the initials B & R
Brighouse and Rastrick Band Hat

To celebrate the arrival of this extraordinary collection in Huddersfield, a new exhibition ‘Brass Bands: History and Culture’ is on display from 4 March to 22 April 2023. Alongside stories of star conductors and gigantic contests are those of local organisations and self-taught music. The exhibition explores how banding became a hugely popular movement, attracting audiences of tens of thousands. It also looks at distinctive aspects of banding culture, through uniforms, trophies, photographs and letters.

The exhibition is free, and open to the public from Monday to Saturday. There will be lunchtime tours of the exhibition on 15 March and 19 April at 1pm.

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