Brass Band Music
Over the last decade, Christopher has established himself as a leading composer for brass bands, working with the finest ensembles all over the world. Since 2015, he has been Composer in Residence to the world-famous Cory Band, with further commissions including Brighouse & Rastrick, Grimethorpe, Flowers, GUS, & Leyland Bands, and solo commissions including Owen Farr, Tom Hutchinson, Steve Stewart, Brett Baker, Stephen Sykes, Lode Violet, Tim De Maeseneer & Chris Bradley.
Christopher's test pieces have been set at the UK Regional Championships, National Youth Championships of Great Britain and West of England Bandsmen's Festival, with further international performances of his music including Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, the USA, and extensively across Europe. Increasingly in demand as an adjudicator, Christopher has adjudicated for BBC Young Musician, the Regional & National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, National Youth Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, UniBrass (University Brass Band Championship of Great Britain & Northern Ireland), Whit Friday Marches, South of Ireland Band Championships and Cory Band's Annual Composition Prize.
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Christopher has contributed to this week's edition of the British Bandsman publication, with an article titled 'Advice for the Young Composer'. The article recalls his experiences growing up in Cornwall as a young composer, and how he's made the jump from a student composer to young professional over the last ten years. The article precedes a brand new monthly feature, 'Composer Cast' which Christopher will be bringing to the magazine later this month, where he'll interview a different composer each month to find out about their lives and work. To find out more, visit the British Bandsman's website below and subscribe to receive a weekly edition.
British Bandsman Website
Since mid-March, the UK has been in lockdown with no live music-making taking place, but that hasn't stopped individuals and organisations across the globe creating their own distanced videos, and here are links to three which feature Christopher's music. On 30th March, rising cornet star, Tom Smith, recorded all four parts to Dynamite!, a quartet for cornet/trumpet originally written for the 2012 Black Dyke Brass Festival. On 23rd May, City of Birmingham Brass Band released an impressive video of a distanced performance of Neverland, which they performed at the recent UK Regional Championships. Today, young horn star Daniel Marsh has released himself performing Christopher's arrangement of Moon River - and it sounds sublime!
Tom SmithCity of Birmingham Brass BandDaniel Marsh
Christopher has been featured on the UniBrass Five Minutes With blog, speaking about his musical life, his experience of UniBrass, and what brass bands mean to him. Christopher adjudicated the 2020 UniBrass Shield in Bangor. He is the only person to have both performed in and adjudicated at the UniBrass Championships.
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Cory Band have today released their latest lockdown video, this time from a recording made last year of Christopher's arrangement of Leonard Cohen's iconic song, Hallelujah. The video, a tribute to the NHS, features over 250 NHS and healthcare workers, many of whom have their own connections to brass bands across the UK.
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Today has seen the final performances of Christopher's three-movement work, Neverland, as part of the 2020 UK Regional Championships, with the cancellation of the London & Southern Counties championship originally scheduled for next weekend. Over the last four weeks, the work, commissioned last year by Kapitol Promotions Ltd, has been performed by ninety brass bands throughout the UK across seven regional venues: Winter Gardens, Blackpool (North West), Swansea University (Wales), Huddersfield Town Hall (Yorkshire), Perth Concert Hall (Scotland), Kenilworth School (Midlands), Riviera International Centre, Torquay (South West), The Gala Theatre, Durham (North of England).
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christopher.bond@live.co.uk
079 3883 0353