Kilmarnock Concert Brass
This is the official website of Kilmarnock Concert Brass Band. We are situated in the heart of Kilmarnock town in Ayrshire,Scotland.
Kilmarnock Concert Brass was formed, as Kilmarnock Youth Band, by it's present conductor Andrew Keachie, in April 1970. The band gave it's first public performance in February 1971. In 1974 the band became Scottish Section 4 Champions,followed in 1975 by taking the top honour in Section 3, did the same in Section 2 the following year, and crowned four magnificent years by being placed third in the Championship Section in 1977.
In 1977-78 they became the Scottish Band of the Year, and in 1979 achieved the highest possible award in the Scottish brass band world by becoming the Champion Band of Scotland. This lead to an appearance on the BBC2 Tv series The Best of Brass and the unforgettable experience of playing in the Royal Albert Hall, London, at the National Brass Band Championship Finals.
In 1980 the Band celebrated it's tenth anniversary with three special concerts, featuring the James Shepherd Versatile Brass, guest soloist on Lusher, John Clough, Colin Aspinall And Jim Shepherd, and the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, all of which were outstanding successes.
1981 was the busy and eventful year for the band, with highlights including our annual Concert Featuring the Stockton Chorale from California, USA, a concert with the National Youth Band of Switzerland an our annual Christmas concert with Peter Morrison and the Grange Academy Senior Choir.
1982 was equally eventful with highlights including our annual Concert featuring Gordon Higginbottom, our Christmas Concert with Peter Morrison and the Grange Academy Senior Choir and the new BBC TV competition for the Scottish brass bands, Fanfare.
1983 heralded yet another new honour for the band and their conductor. They were nominated to receive a Scotstar award, as Scottish Band of the year. Kilmarnock Concert Brass were the first brass band to receive this award.
1984 saw the band reach the final of Fanfare for the second time, and our annual concert with Moria Anderson as well as our Christmas Concert with Bill McCue and the Grange Academy Senior Choir were outstanding successes.
1985 brought another new honour for the band. They were invited to take part in the SNO Proms Concert Series in the Kelvin Hall in June, and readily accepted this invitation.
1986 was a very special year for our 1st baritone player David MacKellar, whole became Senior Solo Scottish Champion.1987 saw the band take part for the first time in the Perth Festival as guests of Peter Morrison. The composer Malcolm Arnold was in the audience.
Later in the year the band won the Forth Valley Contest for the first time, having come so close to this achievement on numerous occasions. This result also marked the band's fifth prize since its inception. In 1988 we were delighted to share in the successful visit to Kilmarnock, of Norals F.D.F/F.P.F. Brass Band in Denmark. The joint concert in the Kilmarnock College was most enjoyable. 1989 was, in many ways, a very difficult year for the ban. There was a large number of changes in the band personnel, with no fewer than 11 members moving up from our 'B' band.
In 1990 we were pleased to feature as our guests for our 20th Anniversary Concert, The Danish Tuba Quartet, who were in Scotland giving seminars and concerts in various schools in Ayr Division. Later in the year our Christmas Concert, with special guest Bill McCue was another major success, and was held in Kilmarnock Academy and St Joseph's Academy as as a highly successful visit of the Chapean Brass Band from Copenhagen. Our Christmas Concert in 1991 returned to the Grand Hall and we were delighted to have Peter Morrison and Marilyn Hill-Smith as guests. 1992 was a very busy year for the band, with the highlight being the BBC Songs of Praise for Kilmarnock 400, an unforgettable experience for all who took part, We were delighted to welcome back to our Christmas Concert the Grange Academy Senior Choir along with Bill McCue.
1993 will long be remembered for our wonderful tour of Denmark and the joint concert in Kilmarnock with the Academy of Music in Seraing/Spa Concert Band from Belgium. 1994 continued our international links with a concert in the Palace Theatre to mark the 20th anniversary of town twinning in Kilmarnock and saw a new special guest at our Christmas Concert in the form of Alastair Macdonald. In 1995 the band celebrated its 25th Anniversary with various special events an concert, including a return to the venue of its first ever concert-Onthank Church 1996 got off to an exciting start start with the band winning the Scottish 3rd Section Championships, an ended with the runners-up prize at the National Finals in Cardiff. What a year! 1997 saw the band winning the Scottish 2nd section Championships resulting in a return to Section 1 in 1998. Unfortunately the band was placed 7th at the 1999 Scottish Championships and returned to Section 2. 2000 saw many changes in band personnel but despite this were placed 3r in the Scottish Championships
Once again in 2001 the band were placed 3rd in the Scottish Championships missing out by only 1 point. In June 2002 the band were invited to perform in Perth as part of the Queens' Golden Jubilee Celebrations, and at Christmas 2003 were delighted to welcome back the Aeolian Male Voice Choir and tenor Bobby Irvine as our guests. In March 2004 the band were placed 2nd at the Scottish Championships and returned to the 1st Section. They represented Scotland at the National Finals in Harrogate later that year. In May 2005 the band were honoured to play at Holyrood Palace at the inauguration of the Very Rev. David Lacy as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In 2006 the band had a disappointing result at the Scottish Championships and returned to the 2nd section. In 2007 the band took part in the 20th Anniversary Festival of Praise in the Grand Hall, Kilmarnock, along with the Centrestage Gospel Choir, the Aeolian Male Voice Choir and Cannon & Ball.