Youth and Beginners Brass Bands

Downshire Brass has a long history of working with young musicians in Northern Ireland and were one of the first local bands to establish a programme for young players in 1991.  Our young people gather at our rehearsal facilities in South Belfast at 6.30pm on Mondays to have fun making music together.

We operate 2 groups:
Beginners Band for those starting out on their brass playing journey. We generally recommend that children should be P4 (aged 7/8) or higher before taking up a brass instrument.

Youth Band for those with more playing experience who require less assistance in rehearsals. Typically, youth band members have achieved Grade 2 standard or been playing for 2-3 years.

Our groups perform 2 concerts per year:
The Downshire Brass Christmas Concert in December is a firm favourite on the local arts scene. It showcases the talents of our Senior, Youth and Beginners Bands and usually features a local choir to add to the festive atmosphere. Our End of Year Concert & BBQ in June is exclusively for our Beginner and Youth Bands where they show off the skills that they have developed over the year. It is a very informal affair held in our rehearsal rooms with a BBQ afterwards to thank our young people and their parents for their efforts.

There are also other public performance opportunities throughout the year such as carolling in local shopping centres and taking part in Solo & Ensemble Competitions.

We are always keen to welcome new members to our youth groups.
Instruments can be provided to band members (free of charge) subject to availability.  We do however ask for a voluntary contribution of £15 per school term to help towards the running costs of our organisation.  Additional donations are of course very welcome and will be put to good use.

If you are interested in getting involved please get in touch via the contact page on our website or email youth@downshirebrass.com

2024/2025 Key Dates
Autumn Term
Band Resumes - Monday 9th September
Half Term Break - Monday 28th October
Christmas Concert - Saturday 7th December
Carolling - TBC
Winter Break - Monday 23rd / 30th December

Spring Term
Band Resumes - Monday 6th January
Solos & Ensembles Competition - Saturday 15th February
Half Term Break - Monday 17th February
St Patrick’s Day Break** - Monday 17th March
Easter Break** - Monday 14th / 21st April

 Summer Term
Band Resumes - Monday 28th April
Bank Holiday - Monday 5th May
Bank Holiday** - Monday 26th May
Summer Concert & BBQ - Monday 16th June

 ** Marked Dates: We will review closer to the time. If sufficient numbers are available, we may run a rehearsal.