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Dear Member,
Welcome to our Christmas BBE newsletter. Whilst you're out playing carols why not send us your photos using #spottedcarolling!
Read on to see what's in store in 2020:
- Check out the Conducting Workshop at the RNCM Brass Band Festival in January, open to female-identifying, trans and non-binary conductors
- Get ready for the Youth Champs - applications now open and early bird 10% discount on tickets
- Enter the new 'Bold as Brass' contest
- Book yourself on a Player or Artistic Development, or BandSafe event (new dates added)
We've welcomed two new member organisations already this month - welcome to Skelmersdale Prize Band and the Pangbourne and District Silver Band.
Feel free to email this newsletter to your members. Encourage them to set up their own accounts on the BBE website to gain access to the Member Resources. They can click on 'Member Login' at the top right-hand side of the home page, then 'create new account'. Each individual should decide on their own username and use their own email address. Under 'My Account' select 'Register as part of a member band' and find the organisation. The band admin can then associate them to the band and control permissions. Once you have an account check out the 'Welcome - Membership Guide' in the Resources Area. |
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Brass Bands England is once again running its #spottedcarolling campaign. Send us pictures of you carolling in interesting and amazing places - sitting in Santa's sleigh in the local high street, performing on the stage of a major concert hall or anything in between! Let's see what brass banders are doing to bring cheer to all in the Christmas season! Using the #spottedcarolling, please send your pictures to us on Facebook, Twitter or email at al...@bbe.org.uk and we will tweet them for you. You can check out some of the photos sent last year in this video. |
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BBE office hours over Christmas
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| Please note that the BBE office will be closed from Monday 23 December 2019, and will re-open on Monday 6 January 2020. |
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RNCM Brass Band Festival 2020
Brass Band Conducting Workshop
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Open to female-identifying, trans, and non-binary conductors, the workshop will be led by Norwegian conductor Halldis Rønning and Acting Head of Conducting at the RNCM, Mark Heron. An hour-long introductory technique session will be followed by a two-hour workshop, culminating in a short public performance as part of the RNCM Brass Band Festival. Each successful applicant will spend 25 minutes working with Mark and Halldis on a piece from the brass band repertoire, with the full support of the RNCM’s own Brass Band. Repertoire will be chosen once the selection process has taken place, and will be appropriate for the level of each participant. We are looking for conductors at all levels of experience – we welcome those who play in brass bands but have aspirations to conduct, those who already conduct amateur bands but wish to improve their technique, or those who already conduct other ensembles to a good level but have less experience with brass bands. Workshops will be held at the RNCM in Manchester on Sunday 26 January 2020 from 10am. Click here for more information and to register |
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RNCM Women In Brass Bands
Insights and Experience
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| Sarah Baumann, BBE's Education and Development Co-ordinator, will be chairing a discussion which focusses on the real-life experiences of women operating in a range of roles within brass banding, and aspirations for the future of women in brass bands at the RNCM Brass Band Festival, Manchester, on Sunday 26 January. Free admission, no ticket required, but seating is limited. 5-6 pm, Carole Nash Recital Room.
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| All our events can be booked online via our website - see below for dates and venues, or visit our Events pages. |
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Applications open for Youth Champs 2020
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Brass Bands England is pleased to receive applications from bands wishing to compete at the National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain on Saturday 28 March 2020. Next year’s event will take place at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham, five miles from Sheffield City Centre.
The Youth Champs is one of the UK’s largest youth music events, with around 1,300 children expected to take part in a single day of music-making and fun. After the successful introduction of a refreshed format for 2019, the event will return with almost unchanged rules except in the non-competitive Debut Section, which will now have no restriction on age (other than the event maximum of 18 years) and relaxed rules about ensemble structure. Read on for more information. |
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| In addition, BBE has an early Christmas present for everyone, with a 10% early bird discount on tickets to next year’s Youth Champs. The deal lasts until midnight on New Year's Eve. |
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2019 Brass Band Conference Contesting Discussion - Next Steps
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The talking point of the Brass Band Conference was the panel discussion on 'What is the purpose of brass band contests and is the structure fit for purpose?' chaired by BBE CEO Kenny Crookston. This generated wide-ranging debate, with questions from the floor, leading to the ultimate conclusion that there is a mood for change. To facilitate this, BBE intends to produce a report into band contesting in the UK, reflecting fully the views of all stakeholders in the banding community. Central to this report will be a comprehensive survey, to which everyone with an interest in brass banding will be invited to contribute.
Click here for more information. To have your questions considered for the process, please email al...@bbe.org.uk by Monday 16 December. |
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| New 'Bold as Brass Contest' |
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| BBE recently launched a new partnership with the National Coal Mining Museum based in Overton, Wakefield, to celebrate the shared cultural history between bands and coal mining, while also highlighting developments made in modern banding. A new contest has been launched that will take place on Sunday 28 June 2020. The event aims to be a modern twist on the traditional march contest, mixing a traditional march with a 20-minute entertainment programme - a great chance to play your Whit Friday marches once again! Entry is free for bands and supporters! There is still chance to sign up as one of the first six bands to get £50 for entering. Click here for more information. |
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| Next event 8th February, Croydon |
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MEMBER BENEFITS AND RESOURCES
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BBE's partnership with Making Music
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Your membership with Brass Bands England includes membership with Making Music – and access to all their services. This month they focus on Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR). We know brass bands aren’t orchestras, but you don’t have to be to claim OTR – in fact, you don’t even have to be paying tax. OTR is a government initiative that means instrumental groups could receive a payment from HMRC equal to a percentage of their concert production costs. The average payment received by groups is equal to 14% of their concert production costs, and so far we have helped our members claim over £75K in total.
If you put on your own concerts with more than 12 instrumentalists, you could be claiming OTR. There is no cultural test and it’s not dependent on what is being performed, who the audiences are or how modern the composer is. It's money you can claim for events you would be putting on anyway. It does involve a bit of work to get set up initially. But once you have done this, the process will be in place and you can keep claiming year after year (Brexit won’t affect it). We have lots of advice and guidance to explain how OTR works as well as template documents to get set up and a service where we make the actual claim for you. Visit our website to find out if OTR could work for you. Click here to activate your organisation's affiliation with Making Music.
Explore Making Music Resources |
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BBE Child Performance Licensing and BOPAs
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BBE's BandSafe training explains everything you need to know about safeguarding in bands and Child Performance Licences (CPL). BBE has been awarded a Body of Persons Approval (BOPA) for exemption from Child Performance Licensing, by the Department for Education. By completing the BandSafe Toolkit and two people from your organisation attending the BBE BandSafe training, member bands will be able to generate their own CPL, rather than having to approach their local authorities, saving you time, effort and stress! |
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For those of you who are members of the National Association of Brass Band Conductors (NABBC), BBE is now handling your membership admin. Membership is due for renewal on 1 January. 2020 Click the link below to renew your membership online. If you have any queries, please email mem...@bbe.org.uk
For BBE member organisations who already have a recurring payment method set up, from 1 September 2019 onwards your renewal payments will be taken automatically. Our fees are staying the same and can be found on our website. (Please note, if you joined with an event discount, that was for one year only).
Thank you for being a member of BBE in 2019. We look forward to continuing to offer you support, opportunities and benefits during 2020. If you have any questions about membership renewal, please email Rosie: mem...@bbe.org.uk |
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We hope you have enjoyed reading this newsletter and would love you to share your comments and feedback with us by emailing: mem...@bbe.org.uk
Wishing you Happy and Better Banding in 2020!!
From the BBE team:
Kenny, Alex (Parky), Sarah, Rosie and Carole |
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Copyright © *2019* *Brass Bands England*, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
in...@bbe.org.uk |
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