Brass The Baton is “Going The Distance”

Brass The Baton is the exciting new 2012 Cultural Olympiad project being produced by the British Federation of Brass Bands. It provides a unique opportunity for brass band musicians, and conductors, of all ages and abilities, to link up and participate in a huge relay race involving 5 conductor’s batons and a unique new music commission entitled “Going The Distance”.

Brass The Baton is basically a relay race involving 5 conductor’s batons, each representing one of the 5 Olympic rings and coloured accordingly. The project was awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark last year and is set to match the ambition of the London 2012 Inspire programme by delivering “an excellent, like-never-before project that inspires everyone to go that extra bit further”.

With this in mind the artistic brief for “Going The Distance” was set ....

“To create a piece of new music accessible to all musicians involved in Brass Band music making of any age and ability”

and ....

“To deliver the commission as 5 distinct versions of the same piece of music, one for each baton, with each version capable of being performed standalone in concert by the participating bands in the 5 relays”

and ....

“To compose the piece so that all 5 versions can be played simultaneously to give one unique premier performance when all 5 batons and brass band musicians come together for the project finale.”

Brass The Baton Project   Director, Terry Luddington, set the scene “We saw this as the ultimate compositional   challenge and were very pleased when Paul Lovatt-Cooper accepted the   commission last year. We chose Paul for this project as we were confident he   would deliver music for Brass The Baton that would help inspire musicians and   audiences to participate in Brass Band music making on an Olympic scale for   2012.”

Paul Lovatt-Cooper added “I chose the title ‘Going The Distance’ as the new composition includes something to inspire every performer involved in this unique musical experience. I started by composing what I call the ‘Inception’ piece, the root from which everything else is derived. Then I created 5 distinct versions of the music, one for each baton relay, whilst taking care to preserve the original structure of the ‘Inception’ piece so that all 5 versions can be performed simultaneously for the project finale.”

“For the 5 versions I have provided music parts for all abilities and each baton has three scores: Score A is suitable for around second section and above standard players, Score B for around fourth section standard players and Score C for training/beginner players. There is truly a part for everyone to play! This provides exciting opportunities for musical directors to mix and match parts and develop their own unique performances of the music to suit the players they have in their bands.”

Terry went on to give a progress update on the project “The relay is set to start on Sunday 6th May with a performance of the ‘Inception’ piece by the European Youth Brass Band at the European Brass Band Championships in Rotterdam. The relay will now finish on Sunday 22nd July with the Brass The Baton finale event to be hosted as part of the closing weekend of this year’s Brass: Durham International Festival”

“To date we have had over 100 expressions of interest to take part and we are receiving applications now on a daily basis. Full details on how bands can take part in the relay are available on www.brassthebaton.com and we will try and keep applications open for as long as possible. We currently expect to close by the end of March, or sooner if the dates are all taken. The scores and parts for the new music commission are now freely available for participating bands to download from www.brassthebaton.com and access will be provided from February. The relay routes for the batons will be mapped out once applications close and then communicated to everyone taking part.”

“This project provides a genuine opportunity for all participating bands to become part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad as all Brass The Baton events will be promoted on the official London 2012 Festival events website. It provides a great platform to demonstrate the depth and breadth of Brass Band music making from everyone involved and I’m really pleased with the enthusiasm for the project to date.”

Paul concluded “This has been a really exciting project for me and to my knowledge a first for a Brass Band music commission. I can’t wait to see how the relay performances unfold and to conduct the finale event in Durham which will be a very special occasion – see you all there!”

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