Brass Bands England is to launch a wide-ranging consultation process to seek opinions, view points and observations on the future structure and organisational development of the National Youth Championships.

It comes on the back of a successful event held at Warwick Arts Centre and will seek to engage with participants, listeners, band organisations and interested parties.

Document

BBE has compiled a consultation document outlining proposed changes to the structure of the Championships. BBE's hope is that people from across the banding world will examine the document and send appropriate feedback based upon its principles and detail.

Among the most significant changes proposed are amended age groups. These include the maximum age being reduced from 21 to 18 over the next three years, and limiting bands to those who do not contain players who have not yet embarked on music study at degree level.

A maximum band size of 55 has also been proposed, designed both to meet venue requirements and provide a more purposeful experience for all of the young musicians.

More inspiring

BBE Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Crookston told 4BR: "Our aim is to make the Championships an even more inspiring event, maximising opportunities for young musicians to experience the best that banding has to offer and to make the type of progress that we hope will engender lifelong relationships with brass bands."

He added: "It's our opinion that those over the age of 18, or who have progressed to music degree study, have already benefited significantly from their experience in youth brass band contesting and that the community in general will ultimately be richer by allowing their successors greater opportunity to perform in the spotlight.

This proposal is also indicative of the progress made by UniBrass since it was founded in 2011. The two events potentially complement each other perfectly, but we do not consider that it is appropriate for significant numbers of players to perform in both."

We do not view this as a plan 'cast in stone', so will take into account all comments received before finalising our plansBBE CEO, Kenny Crookston

Encourage

He concluded: "We are grateful to those who have already sent in their comments following the 2018 championships and would encourage anyone with an interest in a bright future for brass bands to examine our current consultation document very carefully.

We do not view this as a plan 'cast in stone', so will take into account all comments received before finalising our plans.

We would though, stress that we are keen to produce a blueprint for a positive future for the entire banding community and would ask that bands or individuals keep this in mind when expressing their opinions. All suggestions for inclusion — musical or otherwise will be welcome!"

Feedback

Among other areas that BBE is seeking feedback on is a potential expansion to include a full weekend programme, possibly with the Championships taking place on a Saturday and with education and development events also being included.

Download

To download the consultation document and take part in the consultation please visit this link: https://goo.gl/forms/G2LOfAUoOAwN9SL92