City of Coventry Brass
The band was formed in 1965 as the Coventry School of Music Youth Brass Band by Len Pepper, then Principal Trumpet at the Coventry Theatre who taught around city schools. By 1975 it had risen through the rankings of brass banding winning the Grand Shield at Belle Vue Manchester and competing in the British Open in 1975 and 1976 and appearing in the film Take me High with Cliff Richards. The band retained its championship section status until 1997 and subsequently has fluctuated between the first, second and championship sections.
Initially the band was sponsored by the City Council; the bands name changed to the Coventry Centre for the Performing Arts Band and then City of Coventry Brass. In 1995 the band received a lottery grant for a new set of instruments. However, the band has been totally self-financing since 1996.
The band has performed throughout the country and abroad, and for radio and TV and in 2014 opened Birmingham’s biggest free international reggae festival. In May 21 we were joined by Olga Dermott-Bond as poet in residence inspiring some amazing poems. This culminated in two performances in September 21 as part of the BBC contains Strong Language festival of Spoken Word.
The band was promoted back to the first section in January 2024 and continues to seek to entertain audiences with music from many genres.