Supporting University Brass Bands

Registered Charity in England & Wales, No. 1159359

The UniBrass Foundation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) set up to advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art of the brass band movement, especially at universities. They aim to do this primarily by organising the annual UniBrass Championships, offering support to existing university ensembles, and encouraging the creation of new university bands.

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The founders of the UniBrass contest at Lancaster University noticed that students are one of the more marginalised sections of the brass band community, and that university was a time where many people stopped playing. UniBrass exists to try and prevent this; the contest was set up to try and create a focal point for university bands, and has become a key date in their calendars. Since the start of the contest, a number of new university bands have been set up across the country, and the contest has also encouraged the writing of over 20 new compositions for brass band, signs that the contest is providing a platform to encourage new brass banding talent to flourish.

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After the contest moved to the University of Warwick in 2014, the UniBrass Foundation was established as a charitable organisation to provide support to the contest and ensure its long-term viability. Run by a board of trustees made up of people previously involved in running the UniBrass contest, the Foundation also aims to support the work of the contest organising committee, but also work to encourage participation brass bands at university level, with a number of projects under development.

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Details of our recent work can also be found in our Trustees Annual Reports found on the Charity Commission Website