Connaught Brass
Monday 12 August 2024
A thrilling young ensemble at the start of what will be a major international career.” Great Birmingham Brass Fest
Connaught Brass are quickly making a name for themselves as a fresh talent in the chamber music world. Having already made their debut at the Lucerne Festival and London’s Wigmore Hall, the ensemble’s ability to manipulate and unify sound earned them 1st Prize in the Inaugural Philip Jones International Brass Ensemble Competition and the Royal Overseas League Mixed Ensemble Competition.
Vibrant, spirited and bold, Connaught Brass place emphasis on their friendship with one another to showcase their individual musical personalities within a unique collective sound.
Prior to their Philip Jones Competition win, the group won the Worshipful Company of Musicians Brass Ensemble Prize in 2018, and travelled to France shortly after to participate in the music festival Ferrandou Musique. They have returned to the same festival in 2019, 2021 and 2023. More recently, the quintet have become artists of the Tillett Trust, City Music Foundation, Kirckman Concert Society, Cavatina Chamber Music Trust and Britten Pears Chamber Music Residency.
Recent seasons have seen the Connaughts perform widely across the UK and Europe, including tours of Switzerland in 2021 and 2022, recitals at De Doelen Rotterdam, Societá Filarmonica Trento, Snape Maltings, Kings Place, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St George’s Bristol, Hidden Doors Arts Festival Edinburgh and Music for Wexford Ireland, as well as performing live on radio from the Concertgebouw’s Spiegelzaal and BBC Radio 3’s In Tune programme. The 24/25 season will see the group return to Ferrandou Musique in France, make debut performances at the Barbican Centre (Milton Court) and in Wales at Cowbridge Music Festival, undertake an exciting collaboration project with pianist Zeynep Özsuca, alongside an extensive performance schedule across the rest of the UK.
Their ever-growing repertoire spans 500 years, from the renaissance works of Susato to brand new commissions completed in 2023, across a large range of genres. The ensemble also take great pride in undertaking masterclasses and education work at conservatoires, schools and that supported by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust and the Musicians Company.
Having been principal players and members of the European Union Youth Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, members of Connaught Brass perform regularly on the professional circuit. This includes playing with the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Opera North, Welsh National Opera and Ulster Orchestras, as well as recording with and supporting artists such as Bruno Mars, The Jonas Brothers, Stormzy, Lil’ Nas X, Jamie Cullum, Rag‘n’Bone Man, Dave, Giggs and Gregory Porter.
Connaught Brass’ ambition is to explore and share the broadest range of musical repertoire with as wide an audience as possible, bringing brass chamber music to the forefront of today’s musical world.
