West Lothian Schools Brass Band
West Lothian Schools Brass Band - winners of the Premier Section of the 2008 Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships, pictured at the Perth Concert Hall, Perth, Scotland.
West Lothian Schools Brass Band can claim to be one of the most successful youth brass bands in the UK The band was formed in 1975 to encourage young musicians from West Lothian Council’s schools instrumental music tuition programme. In the early 1980’s, Nigel Boddice was invited as a guest conductor to lead the band for a weekend course, and this led to his appointment as musical director - a post which Nigel holds to this day.
During the intervening period the band has achieved an impressive list of results at both national and international levels. They are the current 2008 Scottish Youth Brass Band champions, adding to their previous wins in 1985, 1986, 1987, 2005, 2006 and 2007. They have won the British Youth Brass Band Championship on no less than 11 occasions, including a hat trick of victories in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The band have also been European Youth Champions on three occasions in total. To complete this impressive list of achievements, they were also BBC Radio 2 Youth Brass Band of the Year in 1998, and were awarded a Gold Award at the Sydney International Music Festival in 1998.
Nigel Boddice enjoys a busy and impressive international conducting career and was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2005 for his services to “youth music in Scotland”.
The band is supported by West Lothian Council and additional funding is provided by the Friends organisation.
We hope you enjoy exploring the rest of the site and the music samples from our “Earthrise” CD. Perhaps it will encourage you to come along and hear the band play at one of our concerts or competitions.
West Lothian Schools Brass Band is supported by
West Lothian Schools Brass Band News
Please note that although every effort is made to ensure that the information provided on this site is correct, it is gathered from a variety of sources, and no guarantee is given regarding it’s accuracy. Especially, please check with the individual venues to confirm times for concerts and for booking availability.
If you have any comments or additional information, please contact the webmaster.
If you wish to contact the band directly please contact our band co-ordinator, Mary Downs.
Visits since January 2004
Last updated 14th November 2009
The list of band personnel has been updated from the information printed in the Phoenix Choir concert programme. Please check your name is there, and if there are any mistakes or omissions, e-mail the webmaster
Have you got your copy of the band’s latest CD “Hat Trick” which was released for sale at the Xmas Concert. The CD was recorded in January 2008. For more details, visit our Band Cds and DVDs page. Make sure you get your copy soon.
Come along to the Pert Concert Hall on Sunday 29th November 2009 and support the band as they try to retain their Scottish Youth Brass Band title for the fifth consecutive year. In the Premier Section this year, the band will be up against Carnoustie & District Youth and Dalmellington Junior Band. Best of luck to all taking part in the weekends competition in Perth., which includes the Scottish Open, Challenge Cup, Challenge Shield and Youth Championship contests, with bands from as far afield as the USA making the trip to take part.The weekend’s competition begins at 9:00 am on Saturday the 28th Novemeber. For further details see the following article on 4 Barsrest.com
Apologies for the delay in updating the web site, but finally, the band’s Autumn / Winter events schedule has been updated. Click here for more information.
