UniBrass 2016 Ticket launch: Black Dyke special guests | Brass Bands England

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UniBrass 2016 Ticket launch: Black Dyke special guests

The Organising Committee for UniBrass 2016 are extremely pleased to announce that tickets for both the UniBrass 2016 contest and this year’s Gala Concert with the world famous Black Dyke Band are now on sale. UniBrass is the world’s only inter-University brass band contest and is the annual focus for University bands in Britain, supported by the UniBrass Foundation, a registered charity. British Bandsman described the 2015 Contest as “a projection of the future of banding”. UniBrass is an entertainment contest and UniBrass 2016 will take place on 20th February 2016 at University of Warwick’s state of the art Arts Centre. An educational programme will run alongside the contest, kindly supported by Besson Instruments.

6th year

The UniBrass contest, which was described by Brass Bands England as “the most innovative thing to happen to banding in 100 years”, now enters its sixth year and is open to all University bands in the United Kingdom. Space is available for eighteen bands and registration opens on 1st of November. Last year’s contest was full within hours of registration opening and the Organising Committee expects interest to be equally keen for this year’s contest, which has established itself as the focal point of University brass banding.

The most famous band in the world

Following the success of the Gala Concert with Jaguar Landrover Band at UniBrass 2015, this year’s Gala Concert will see the world-famous Black Dyke Band take to the stage to perform a full concert in the 2000 seater Butterworth Hall of the University of Warwick Arts Centre. Black Dyke Band Open 2014 pixlr Founded in 1855, Black Dyke Band are the current European Champions, English National Champion, British Open Champion and National Champion of Great Britain. Black Dyke Band have also won the European Championships a further 12 times, the British Open 30 times and National Championships of Great Britain 23 times. Black Dyke Band are one of the best in the world. Black Dyke Band Secretary Mike Shenton commented: “Black Dyke Band is pleased to be associated with UniBrass and their 2016 plans and is looking forward to appearing in the Gala Concert on 20th February 2016”. The Gala Concert with Black Dyke Band will start at 20:00 on 20th February, following the UniBrass 2016 Contest. Separate tickets are required for each event.

Tickets on sale

Tickets for both the UniBrass 2016 Contest and the Gala Concert with Black Dyke Band are on sale today. Tickets for the Black Dyke Band Gala Concert are available from £10. Day tickets for the UniBrass 2016 Contest are available from £9. Join Unibrass for the whole day and save! Purchase any UniBrass 2016 contest ticket with your Gala Concert ticket and you’ll get your contest ticket at the concession rate. All tickets are also available from the Warwick Arts Centre Box Office by phoning 02476 524524. Tickets for students competing in UniBrass 2016 will be available through their bands and subsidised to the cost of £1, thanks to support from the UniBrass Foundation.

More to come

In order to produce the UniBrass Contest at a cost affordable for all student bands and the public, the Organising Committee has already started fundraising and each of the ten committee members has been challenged to raise £100 each before 1st October, for a total of £1000. An outing at Whit Friday and fundraising curry have got the fundraising ball rolling! The committee will be updating progress throughout the summer on the UniBrass Facebook page and on the @UniBrass Twitter. You can donate to UniBrass via the UniBrass website by clicking the “donate” button. The Organising Committee for UniBrass 2016 has many more exciting announcements to make over the coming weeks and months. For all the latest information sign up to their email newsletter mailing list, where you will also receive a free MP3 download of UniBrass 2015 winners Manchester’s set.