THE WESSEX BRASS QUINTET was formed in July 1989. It has performed at venues across the South of England including Winchester & Portsmouth Cathedrals, Romsey, Beaulieu & Malmesbury Abbeys, Christchurch Priory, Winchester College, Milfield & Canford Schools, Portsmouth Guildhall, The Winter Gardens, Bournemouth and at The Turner Sims Concert Hall, University of Southampton. The Quintet has been featured on BBC Radio and in July 1993 was invited to play live on CLASSIC FM's "Friday Live". In addition to these prestigious engagements, Wessex Brass has a busy schedule of recitals in towns and villages all over the South bringing brass chamber music to the wider community. Since 1997, in partnership with The Winchester Music School, the quintet has been Ensemble in Residence at King Alfred's College, Winchester.
Over the past ten years the WBQ has played for leading business and leisure companies including Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser, BMW, Rover, Honda and Time Warner Leisure. The WBQ has provided the music for dinners, weddings, product launches, exhibitions and conferences at leading venues such as The Southampton Hilton, Bournemouth International Centre and The Winchester Guildhall. The versatility of the WBQ has meant that the group is able to tailor programmes accordingly.
Repertoire covers hundreds of works from early music by Gabrieli, Pezel, Locke, Dowland and Bach through to Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, J. Strauss and 20th Century works by Debussy, Gregson, Arnold, Bernstein and Horovitz. They also have an extensive collection of music by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Fats Waller, King Oliver, Scott Joplin, etc. plus numerous musical novelties to lighten proceedings, particularly for children. The WBQ has been very fortunate to have had numerous pieces of music written for them by composers such as Dr. June Boyce-Tillman, Norman Durrant and David Hill. Members and friends of the quintet frequently arrange pieces for the group including pieces for organ and brass, voices and brass and solos. One such piece was recently performed at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in the presence of HRH The Duke of Kent for the opening of the new MRI scanner.
As part of the Millennium 2000 celebrations, the WBQ took part in a Watchnight Service on New Yearıs Eve, broadcast live from Winchester Cathedral on BBC Radio. In June 2000 the WBQ was invited to provide music at the memorial service to Lord Coggan, former Archbishop of Canterbury, in Winchester Cathedral. The service was attended by representatives of the Royal Family, the Government and leaders of all the Christian denominations and other world religions.
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