The National Youth Brass Band of Scotland (NYBBS) recently enthralled a capacity audience at the Mitchell Theatre, Glasgow January as part of a highly successful musical fusion with Shetland fiddlers, Jenna and Bethany Reid.

Celtic Connections

As previously reported on 4BR, the event was part of the internationally acclaimed 2013 Celtic Connections Festival, where the band became part of a fully integrated addition to the Reid’s folk band, performing the narrated musical suite ‘The Shetland Bus’

The combination of sounds was well received by an enthusiastic audience, whilst the Sheltand fiddlers were delighted by the new dimension NYBBS brought to the critically acclaimed work.

Enormous success

SBBA Development Manager Andrew Duncan, who orchestrated the music and conducted the performance, told 4BR: "It was an enormous success. The NYBBS players had to perform in a diverse variety of styles, working alongside a musical genre with which the band had no previous experience.

The approach of a folk ensemble is very different from that of a brass band, and so the NYBBS members are to be congratulated for the way in which they took the challenges in their stride so professionally and effectively: It was as if the two groups had always worked together!"

The NYBBS players had to perform in a diverse variety of styles, working alongside a musical genre with which the band had no previous experienceAndrew Duncan

Look forward

Jenna and Bethany Reid, added: "With this in mind, we look forward to pursuing possible future performances of ‘The Shetland Bus’, and other works to further establish this new strata of brass band versatility and performance opportunities."