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West Lothian Schools Brass Band can claim to be one of the most successful youth brass bands in the UK The band was formed in 1975 to encourage young musicians from West Lothian Council’s schools instrumental music tuition programme. In the early 1980’s, Nigel Boddice was invited as a guest conductor to lead the band for a weekend course, and this led to his appointment as musical director - a post which Nigel holds to this day.

During the intervening period the band has achieved an impressive list of results at both national and international levels. They have been Scottish Youth Brass Band champions 7 times, with a hat trick of wins between 1985 and 1987 followed by four wins in a row in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. They have won the British Youth Brass Band Championship on no less than 11 occasions, including a hat trick of victories in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The band have also been European Youth Champions on three occasions in total. To complete this impressive list of achievements, they were also BBC Radio 2 Youth Brass Band of the Year in 1998, and were awarded a Gold Award at the Sydney International Music Festival in 1998.

Nigel Boddice enjoys a busy and impressive international conducting career and was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2005 for his services to “youth music in Scotland”.

The band is supported by West Lothian Council and additional funding is provided by the Friends organisation.

We hope you enjoy exploring the rest of the site and the music samples from our “Earthrise” CD. Perhaps it will encourage you to come along and hear the band play at one of our concerts or competitions.

Please note that although every effort is made to ensure that the information provided on this site is correct, it is gathered from a variety of sources, and no guarantee is given regarding it’s accuracy. Especially, please check with the individual venues to confirm times for concerts and for booking availability.
If you have any comments or additional information, please contact the webmaster.
If you wish to contact the band directly please contact our band co-ordinator, Mary Downs.

The band were at Pert Concert Hall on Sunday 29th November 2009 participating in the Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships. Unfortunately, their attempt to retain the Premier Section title for the fifth consecutive year was thwarted by a fine performance from Carnoustie & District Youth conducted by Michael Robertson, who took the honours on the day. Both bands were awarded a Gold Award by the adjudicators Frank Renton & Lynda Nicholson. For more photographs of the band at the event click here. Click on either of the following links for further results and information from 4BarsRest from the Scottish Open or the Scottish Youth Championships.

All those who braved the weather and attended the Scotland meets Vienna Concert on Sunday 10th January 2010 at the Regal Community Theatre in Bathgate were treated to a great evenings entertainment, including a rare performance of Peter Grahams’ “Cry of the Celts” in its entirety.The concert was brought to a rousing finish when we were treated to both Runrigs’ version of “Loch Lomond” and “Highland Cathedral”. A night to remember!

The bands' next public event will be on Saturday 6th February 2010 at the Howden Park Centre in Livingston. The band will be taking part in a Gala Concert, part of the Besson Scottish Solo & Ensemble Championship weekend. The concert will also feature the Co-operative Funeralcare band along with guest soloists Roger Webster and Neil Gallie. See our Events page for more information.