St Austell has had a competitive Youth Band since the 1960s but our commitment to nurturing brass players for the future was really cemented when our "School of Brass" was formed in 1990. Through training brass players in schools and at the band room, we soon created one of the best youth bands in the country. Many players from this original group now play in the senior band as do several of the current youth band.
The band is directed by Anna Minear who, as well as leading the band to several contest wins, has made a really inclusive learning environment for players of all ages and abilities.
The Band currently has 35 registered players aged from 7yrs to 20yrs old. The players come from various backgrounds; we have young people who attend state schools, colleges, special education schools, private schools, and some who are home-schooled. These young people come together through the love of music to play in the Youth Band. It’s an amazing thing to see such a wide age range of young people all coming together and working as a team. There are not many activities where this can happen.
The band attended the National Youth Championships for the first time in many years - earlier this year in Cheltenham, and were placed 3rd out of 17 Youth Bands from across the country!
In June we attended the West of England Bandsman’s Festival and were placed 1st.
In November the Band travelled to Torquay and are the current South West Brass Band Association Youth Champions for the second year. Our Euphonium player won the "best instrumentalist" award.
Winning - or placing near the top in any contest is a fantastic thrill for all involved in any community or group. The real reward of these adventures is the journey the group and each member has, the experiences they gain and the friendships they make along the way.
The band believe that finance should never be a barrier to a child having the opportunity to learn an instrument and take part in any band activities, however, the cost of the trip to Hull will be huge, therefore we are on a fundraising mission to try to make sure all our young people can attend without being a financial burden on families.
As part of this, we will be running an online silent auction in December, a play-a-thon in January and many other ideas are still in the pipeline to help get these young people where they need to be.