Community music
Reflections
SOME REFLECTIONS
City of Birmingham Brass Band
Following the 2014 City of Birmingham Brass Band Musical Director auditions, Iain began a two-year conducting partnership with the band, leading rehearsals and performances across Birmingham and the wider region.
Engagements included concerts and events at Maxstoke Castle, the National Memorial Arboretum, Ironbridge Gorge Brass Band Festival, Trentham Gardens, Stratford-upon-Avon Bandstand, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the Severn Valley Railway, Villa Park, The Hawthorns, Brindleyplace, Cadbury World and St Martin in the Bullring.
During Iain’s time with the band, it moved clear of the relegation places and retained its position in the West Midlands Third Section.
West Midlands Concertina Group
Since 2009, Iain has worked with the West Midlands Concertina Group in Stourbridge as a composer and visiting conductor, leading occasional meetings and performances. In 2020, the group performed his specially commissioned work Frivol live on Black Country Radio.
West Midlands Concert Band
Iain has conducted the West Midlands Concert Band in performances across the region, entertaining audiences at venues including Tettenhall Village Green, Brewood Music Festival, Bantock House and Park, West Park Bandstand, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Codsall Village Hall and Wolverhampton’s Market Square.
The Band has also appeared at community venues, churches and parks throughout the West Midlands, including Redhouse Park, Brunswick Park, Beckminster Methodist Church, Springdale Methodist Church, St Michael’s Church and Wednesbury Central Methodist Church.
In 2018, Iain returned as guest conductor for a performance at the historic Cradley Heath Workers’ Institute at the Black Country Living Museum.
New Streetly Youth Orchestra
At 18, while an undergraduate at Birmingham Conservatoire, Iain was appointed Principal Conductor of the New Streetly Youth Orchestra in Sutton Coldfield, complementing his conducting studies. Volunteering alongside Musical Director Richard Commander, he helped lead weekly rehearsals at Manor Primary School, Streetly, and conducted the orchestra on residential courses at Ironbridge Gorge and Castleton Hall. He also conducted a pop-up concert at the Gracechurch Shopping Centre, bringing live orchestral music into the town centre. Other performances included concerts at Longbridge Boat Club, Aldridge Youth Theatre and St Columba’s Church, Banners Gate. Iain also developed lasting links with Birmingham Conservatoire, inviting student musicians to support the orchestra as volunteer sectional tutors.
