Main Band is a full sized brass band, and the society’s largest ensemble. The band is un-auditioned, and open to anybody from the university and local area. Athough the society is student run, our Main Band is led by our professional conductor, Tom Stoneman, who leads us to a very high standard of music.
Performance opportunities are frequent, and the band plays regularly in concerts at the university, as well as further afield in Coventry and Warwickshire. Recently we have hosted guest soloists including Ryan Watkins (principal trombone, Brighouse & Rastrick Band), Kevin Crockford (former soprano cornet player with Grimethorpe Colliery Band), and Tom Hutchinson, principal cornet player of Cory Band.
The band is unique as the only contesting university brass band in the country. Each year, the band takes part in the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain as well as the LBBA contest. We are currently competing in the 4th Section.
Main Band has fantastic links with other university brass bands. The band takes part in an annual ‘Tri Uni’ concert joint with Leeds and Durham University Brass Bands, which provides a great opportunity for a weekend away to somewhere new! The band also competes at UniBrass, the University Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, where we have had great success against bands from RNCM and Birmingham Conservatoire.
Outside of playing, there are a number of social opportunities with the band. We wouldn’t be a university society without traditional socials such as bar crawls and nights out, but there are a wide range of ‘sober socials’ throughout the year such as curries (at the best curry house in the world) and the infamous Pudding Social. With such a varied social calendar, there is guaranteed to be something for everybody.
Main Band rehearses on Wednesdays from 5 – 7:30pm in the Music Centre within Warwick Arts Centre. If you would like to find out more about Main Band, contact us now.
