Gathering Day Dates – 2023-24
We are pleased to announce the dates for Devon Youth Chamber Brass Gathering & Performance Days for 2023-24.
All dates are held at King Edward VI Community College, Ashburton Road, Totnes, TQ9 5JX unless otherwise stated below.
The dates are as follows:
- Sunday 24th September 2023 (RECRUITMENT DAY!)
- Sunday 15th October 2023
- Sunday 5th November 2023
- 14-15th November 2023 – Music For Youth Creative Proms – Royal Albert Hall
- Saturday 2nd December – Performance with Devon Youth Choir – Exeter
- Sunday 14th January 2024
- Sunday 25th February 2024
- Saturday 16th March 2024 – Performance with Wells Cathedral School – Details TBC
- Sunday 17th March 2024
- Sunday 28th April 2024
- Sunday 12th May 2024
- Saturday 18th May 2024 – Performance at Devon County Show – Details TBC
- Sunday 30th June 2024
Our gathering days run from 2pm-4:30pm with a short break. We will be exploring mid-sized brass repertoire including those pieces above, but also other smaller brass ensemble pieces, encouraging more senior students to form quartets and quintets and work in sectionals in a leadership role with the more junior players.
This is suitable for approximately Grade 4+ brass players of all types and clefs.
The cost for a 2.5 hour session will be £12, but if you would like to sign up as an annual member for the year, including all nine gathering days, other special projects with guest conductors and a FREE DYCB T-Shirt, the cost is £75 inclusive.
All students that receive pupil premium or free school meals will be able to attend free of charge, and a number of bursary places are available to those for whom finance is a barrier to attendance – please contact us in confidence to apply for a bursary place.
For more information, or to sign up, contact us on this page!
About Devon Youth Chamber Brass
Devon Youth Chamber Brass, founded in 2020, is an initiative devised by trumpet player, brass educator and composer Sam Massey designed to compliment the wide range of ensemble opportunities on offer for brass players within the county of Devon.
Particularly in light of the global pandemic, the aim is to offer innovative and exciting chamber brass ensemble opportunities to intermediate-advanced young brass players throughout Devon & Torbay.
As a guide, the students need to be fairly competent sheet music readers and have a reasonable degree of proficiency on their brass instrument to get the most out of our activities – as a guide, we would recommend our students should be working at approximately ABRSM/Trinity Grade 4 or above.
All brass instrumentalists are more than welcome to participate, whether treble or bass clef reading.
What is a chamber brass ensemble?
A chamber brass ensemble is a relatively small group of brass instruments that play a diverse range of repertoire, but above all enjoy the excitement of the common bond between a small ensemble with a common goal.
This could be a brass septet, or dectet, or even just a quartet or quintet – there are many possibilities and configurations!
Here is a example to Mnozil Brass, one of the finest examples of a chamber brass ensemble on the international stage, performing ‘Goldfinger’ (all credits and copyright as stated in YouTube description)
Online Brass Skills Workshop
In September 2020, we launched a series of online brass skills workshops for aspiring young brass players.
On September 29th 2020, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dean Wright (professor of trumpet at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama) to deliver an excellent workshop focussed around breathing and exercises. Here is a link to the information pack if you couldn’t make the session:
Please visit and subscribe to his YouTube channel for some great tips on warming up as well as exercises and play-along duets, great resources for the aspiring musician in lockdown:
Devon Youth Chamber Brass 