Dozen original pieces commissioned for youth bands by SBBA

The Scottish Brass Band Association has commissioned 12 pieces of music for youth bands from four of the country’s leading composers and arrangers of brass music.

The composition project has been made possible through funding from Creative Scotland.

Alan Fernie, Gareth Bowman, Iain Mundy and Cameron Mabon have been asked by SBBA to each come up with three original pieces or arrangements suitable for youth bands. The brief is relatively loose so as not to stifle the composers’ creativity.

The only stipulation is that the music should be ready to be published by mid-May.

Conductors, composers, arrangers and adjudicators Alan Fernie and Gareth Bowman are probably the better known of the foursome. Cameron Mabon, a teacher at Berwickshire High School who studied music at Edinburgh University, is actively involved with several bands in the Scottish Borders.

Iain Mundy started his music career at a young age as a trumpet and cornet player in local brass bands. Having graduated with a degree in music from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, he was runner-up in the first-ever SBBA Young Composer Competition in 2017.