In December 2020, I co-founded the KCL Brass Band alongside Will Douglas, Michael Tasker and Oscar Eastman. We worked together to enter the Cory Online Brass Band Championships, winning five awards. Since then, the band has established itself as a key music society at King’s College London.
King’s College London Brass Band
Cory Online Brass Band Championships 2021
In March 2021, KCL Brass Band entered the Cory Online Brass Band Championships. Bands entering the championships were required to edit a ten-minute long virtual recording.
I was the Creative Director and worked with organiser, Will Douglas, and audio editors Michael Tasker and Alex Baker to put together a ten-minute long virtual performance titled ‘London Calling’.
The film was a huge success, winning five awards at the Cory Online Brass Band Championships in the university sections. The film was awarded:
Third place
Most Entertaining Film
Best Regional Theme
Best Percussion Section
Highest Shield Section Band
The film was featured at the KCL Conference for Teachers and Career Advisors in March 2021, where the key note speaker was Professor Ed Balls, former UK Chancellor.
Read the student newspaper report here: https://roarnews.co.uk/2021/kcl-brass-band-sees-successful-competition-debut/
Varsity online newspaper highly rated the film in the review of the competition here: https://www.varsity.co.uk/music/21337
Foden’s Online Whit Friday Championships 2021
In May 2021, KCL Brass Band decided to enter the Foden’s Online Brass Band Championships. The championships were formed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and allowed over 100 bands to compete virtually. The band performed the popular march, ‘Punchinello’ by William Rimmer. This performance built upon the success of the Cory Online Championship earlier in the year.
UniBrass 2022 and 2023
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, KCL Brass Band was fortunate to compete in the UniBrass competition, hosted in Sheffield and Warwick universities respectively.
In 2022, I was unable to perform due to testing positive for COVID-19. However, I edited the visuals that accompanied the performance and were praised by the adjudicators. In 2023, I performed with the band in-person on soprano cornet.
Photo Credits: UniBrass 2022
