5 Themes for Your Next Brass Band Concert
Brass Band Concert Themes to Entice Your Audience
Listen, I love ‘Stage and Screen’ or ‘A Night at the Movies’ themes as much as the next bander (I’m working on a similar programme with my band at the moment!), but if you’re looking for a theme for your next brass band concert that is a little bit different, then this is the post for you!
I’ve put together 5 concert themes with suggested programmes and links to where you can buy the scores and parts!
Each programme will include a mix of recognisable arrangements and original pieces written for brass bands to help showcase everything our fantastic community has to offer!
1) Space Odyssey
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From the well-known theme taken from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie of the same name to moving soloist offerings and spirited adventures to far away galaxies - this programme takes your audience on a whirlwind tour around space!
First Half
Second Half
Ad Astra by Jacob Vilhelm Larsen*
Flugel Solo: For the Beauty of Earth by Dorothy Gates*
Trombone Feature: Blue Moon by Richard Rogers arr. Alan Fernie
Encore: Imperial March from Star Wars by John Williams arr. Sandy Smith
2) A Disney Spectacular
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This is probably my favourite programme of the lot and I would love to see it live. I’ve also tried to feature as many tunes that isn’t ‘A Disney Fantasy’ - I love Goff and it’s a lovely arrangement, but it’s time for some other Disney arrangements to take the spotlight. This programme would be a great introduction for younger audience members into the brass band medium and a great chance for bands to get creative to engage little listeners!
First Half
When You Wish Upon a Star by Leigh Harline arr. By Sammy Nestico
Features: The Circle of Life, I Just Can’t Wait to be King, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Hakuna Matata and This Land
Soprano Solo: Feed the Birds by the Sherman Brothers arr. Jonathan Bates
Let it Go by Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez arr. Philip Harper
Second Half
Encore: Bluey Theme Song by Jonathan Bush and arr. By Tim Middleton - this will go down a treat for children in the audience!
3) Big Band Bash!
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A celebration of toe-tappin’ swing, dance and jazz classics from days gone by. It would be great to perform these at a venue that has a dance floor or maybe collaborate with a local dance club to bring these pieces to life?
First Half
Second Half
Tenor Horn Solo: Georgia on My Mind by Hoagy Carmichael, arr. Goff Richards
St Louis Blues arr. by Andrea Price*
4) Heroes and Villains
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From courageous champions to treacherous titans, this programme offers a chance showcase arrangements and original music for brass band in an adventurous way! This theme could also be achieved by utilising arrangements of well-known superhero theme tunes, such as superman or batman - but I wanted to try something different by utilising as many original brass band works as possible.
First Half - Heroes
Second Half - Villains
5) Elemental
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This programme takes your audience through an exploration of the 4 elements - earth, wind, water and fire.
First Half
Second Half
I hope these ideas help to sparke your imagination, if you are ever looking for some ideas for your next concert!
Disclaimer: these programmes are just a suggestion - you can mix and match items to suit the ability of your band. No part of this blog is sponsored by, nor do I have any affiliation with the vendors linked - I just thought it would be useful for anybody looking to buy any of the mentioned pieces! Any pieces I couldn’t find a purchase link for marked with an asterisk.
However, sponsorships are more than welcome for the right business - if you are interested in supporting the blog by sponsoring content, then please email itsnotatrumpet@gmail.com!
These are some absolutely fabulous combinations! I’m not the biggest Disney fan, but I would be delighted to play this set of Disney music.
If you want to purchase Ad Astra by Jacob Vilhelm Larsen you can just send him an e-mail, you can pay using paypal and he'll send you the piece as a PDF. (I've looked into this for our Space-themed concert :D)