Four talented young players from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff recently played their part in celebrating the memory of the great trumpet player and brass visionary Philip Jones.

Celebration

Vicki Kennedy, Steph Wilkins, Lowenna Taylor and Grant Jameson who make up 4tune Brass were invited to take part in a celebration of brass chamber music in his memory at a concert organised by Ursula Jones in association with the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

The event was held at St. John’s Smith Square, Westminster last weekend, featuring ensembles representing each of the major conservatoires from across the UK.

Quartet

The 4tune Brass players were particularly excited to take part as they were the only quartet ensemble made up solely of brass band instrumentation.

Vicki Kennedy told 4BR: "We were honoured to be invited to take part in such a prestigious event and to play for such a distinguished audience!

We particularly enjoyed speaking with Elgar Howarth afterwards and were delighted to perform Joseph Horovitz’s ‘Variations on a Theme from Paganini’ with the composer in the audience."

We particularly enjoyed speaking with Elgar Howarth afterwards and were delighted to perform Joseph Horovitz’s ‘Variations on a Theme from Paganini’ with the composer in the audience4tune Brass

Fantastic experience

She added: "It really was a fantastic experience for us. We hope that we did the brass band movement proud!"

All four players scarified an appearance at the Welsh Open contest with their respective bands to play at the event, but as Vicki stated – "We wouldn’t have missed this for the world."