Strata Brass, who are we?
The origins of Strata Brass can be traced back to 1889, with the band celebrating its 130th Anniversary in 2019. We have been known by many different names over the years, including ‘Hoyland Rechabites’, ‘Cortonwood Colliery’, ‘Hoyland Town Ireland Alloys’, ‘Wards Brewery’, ‘Weaver Building Group’ & the current name of ‘Strata Brass’
The band performs around 12 concerts each year, predominantly in the South Yorkshire area. We also travel further afield including matching in the annual Durham Miners Gala for the last several years.
In addition to our concert work, we also take part in numerous competitions, winning prizes for entertaining programmes & technical ability. Examples of such in recent years:
- Champions at Whiston Festival of Brass (Entertainment Contest) – 2015, 2016
- Runners up in Yorkshire Regional Contest (1st Section) – 2015
- Winners of Yorkshire Regional Contest (1st Section) – 2018
Soloist Prize awarded to Adele Ashton (Solo Horn) - Runners up Shirebrook Open (Entertainment Contest) – 2018
- Runners up Bolsover (Entertainment Contest) 1st Section – 2018
- Most Entertaining Band Bolsover (Entertainment) Championship Section – 2018.
Both recent Yorkshire Regional Contest successes have given the band the chance to represent Yorkshire at the Kapitol Promotions National Finals, held in Cheltenham.
Strata Brass is fully self-funding & raises money through a variety of means; primarily concerts, membership subscriptions for players & sales of CD recordings. Our concerts have also given the band the opportunity to support charitable organisations; in July 2017 we took part in a concert that raised over £1100 for ‘Breast Cancer Now’.
We also offer supporters of the band the ability to join a patron’s scheme & actively continue to seek sponsorship. We would be more than happy to discuss both of these options in more detail.