Brass Day - 28 July

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Following on from the success of Violins!! (2005) and last year's The Voice, which brought together over 1,000 amateur and professional singers, the Royal Albert Hall resounded to the sound of brass in all its many forms on 28 July.

In a day of massed forces celebrating the diversity and joy of brass instruments and their repertory, BBC Proms Brass day aimed to offer something for anyone involved in brass, from star soloists such as Håkan Hardenberger and David Pyatt, to the youngest enthusiast who has just had his or her first trumpet lesson. The day brought together the brass players of the BBC Philharmonic, the Grimethorpe Colliery and Black Dyke bands, The fanfare trumpets of the Coldstream Guards band, students from the Royal Northern College of Music and Birmingham Conservatoire, amateur brass players from London and the South East and, for a truly international flavour, some remarkable Uzbek trumpeters.

Brass Massive - 28 July 10am-12pm

The day began with 200 brass players of all ages and levels joining Roger Argente and his team in a two hour brass workshop at the Royal College of Music. The Workshop culminated in the first ever performance of Judith Bingham's Ziggurat, a brass Fanfare specially commissioned by the Proms for the day on the steps of the Royal Albert Hall, announcing to the world at large that Brass Day is well and truly under way.

He is Armoured without

After Brass Massive followed two concerts, the second of which featured a remarkable new work for epic brass forces by Peter Wiegold. He is armoured without is a part composed, part improvised work and was been created through a series of workshops. The piece brought together huge brass forces, including 90 amateur and student brass players from Manchester, Birmingham and London. Performers come from a variety of Brass playing backgrounds and experience, from those with years of experience within the Brass band tradition, to our youngest players who have reached impressive standards at the age of just 13. These performers were brought together in a series of workshops and rehearsals with Peter Wiegold and the creative team.