ABOUT US

BRACKLEY WIND ORCHESTRA is a community-based self-funded amateur group. Brackley Wind Ensemble was formed in 2004 with a core group of around 10 players. Post-covid, player numbers and instrument range started to increase and in 2022 we became the Brackley Wind Orchestra.

 

Our group now consists of 38+ players and is still growing. Our repertoire is eclectic – ranging from ‘classical’ to ‘popular’. Original music by Nigel Hess, Guy Woolfenden, Dag Wiren and Eric Whitacre have featured recently alongside arrangements of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Holst, Vaughan Williams & Bach. Medleys of film music such as Star Trek, Chicago & Oliver or artists such as The Beatles and The Carpenters are also programmed.

 

We play at least five concerts each year and select a different charity to support in that year through advertising and sponsorship. In the last five years we have donated in excess of £3,500 to various charities.

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We were delighted when in 2023 renowned clarinettist David Campbell accepted an invitation to become our Honorary President. He was joined in 2024 by famous flautist Lisa Nelsen as Honorary Vice President. Each year we hold a Professionals’ Day when David and Lisa run rehearsals and workshop activities. We round the event off with a concert open to the public in which they perform both for us and with us.

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Brian has been the Music Director of BWO since 2015. He taught music for 38 years. In 1991 he led a school-based project with the Royal Opera House celebrating Mozart’s 200th anniversary. This week-long project was filmed by the BBC. The resulting broadcast “Mozart is alive and well in Milton Keynes” won the Royal Television Society’s ‘Best Children’s Documentary Award’. From 2008-2012 he was heavily involved in the Cultural Olympiad relating to the Paralympics. This culminated in a film involving schools from around the world entitled “Driving Inspiration”. The film won the International Family Film Festival ‘Short Feature Film’ and was shown at the Olympic stadium during the 2012 London Paralympic Games. Regular tours in Europe with school orchestra and choir were run but perhaps the most significant were the annual Music Project weeks in Tuzla Bosnia when children enjoyed a day of practical music-making. Five schools in five days, quite a challenge!

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Previous BWO music tours have taken us to Holland, Belgium, Germany (Rhine & Mosel valleys) and Yorkshire, sharing the international language of Music.