Young brass musicians coming together for EverReady Band’s new Youth Futures project

One of the North East’s best-known brass bands is looking to the future after launching a new youth band project. The Ever Ready Band staged a ‘Youth Futures’ event at The Fire Station in Sunderland over the summer as part of its drive to give more young musicians the chance to practice, perform and develop their craft.

And after securing funding from the County Durham-headquartered Banks Group to cover the project’s running costs for the next year, the band is now looking for more young people to get involved.

More than 20 musicians aged between 11 and 19 years old took part in the launch day, which included a full band rehearsal and sectional workshops led by tutors from the Durham Music Service.

The event concluded with a band performance on stage in front of family, friends and music lovers led by renowned conductor Mareika Gray, musical director of the National Children’s Brass Band of Great Britain.

Originally founded in 1910 as the Craghead Colliery Band, the Stanley-based EverReady Band performs regularly around the region and across the country, and will be competing alongside the UK’s best brass bands in September at the British Open Championship in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.

Band manager Jillian Dixon says: “We’ve been working to increase our community engagement work, and giving talented young musicians more learning and performance opportunities is a great way for us to be doing this.

“The Youth Futures event was designed to give participants the chance to work together, listen to each other and get invaluable guidance from a range of expert tutors.

“The band achieved an awful lot in just a few hours, and they looked and sounded great when they were performing together on stage in one of the North East’s best live music venues. 

“We’re going to be holding regular rehearsals in our band room in the coming months and would love to get more young musicians who play their instruments to Grade Two level involved.

“The Banks Group’s support has been hugely helpful in getting this important project under way and we simply couldn’t have done it without them.”

The Banks Group is a long-term supporter of brass band music throughout North East England and was one of the lead sponsors of the recent Durham Brass Festival. 

Kate Culverhouse, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds: "At a time when musical education opportunities are increasingly hard to come by for young people, this is a brilliant initiative that’s going to help sustain a tradition that has deep roots across the North East.“

For further information on getting involved with the EverReady Youth Band, email contact@everreadyband.co.uk