Hello everyone, I recently found this information booklet entitled 'Notes on The Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium Trigger' which was written by Steven Mead. I hope you all enjoy this attached resource.

Hello everyone, On Saturday 3rd October 2020, I had the opportunity to test a range of Euphonium’s whilst helping a friend pick a brand new Euphonium. I wanted to share a few of my thoughts from this really superb day. The instruments that we tested were as follows. Sterling Virtuoso Euphonium with a Heavy Red Brass Bell. Yamaha Custom Euphonium. Yamaha Neo Euphonium. Geneva Cardinal Euphonium. Geneva GVL Euphonium. Silver Plated Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium. Gold Lacquer

Imagine for a moment a world in which you know everything about everyone else and everyone knows everything about you. What would this world be like? I personally believe that this world may lack quite a lot of communication. Now imagine a world where you are aware that other people have different points of view but they are different to how you see the world. The worlds just described in the above sentences can often be the way in which people with Autism see the world. I ha

Hello everyone,I wanted to share some exciting news in regards to a new development which I have been testing on my Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium. As many of you will know Stomvi developed a product called MaxiClappers for their range of Trumpets, Cornets and Trombones and I enquired if it was possible that Stomvi would be making this product available for the Euphonium. As a result of this, I have been testing a set of MaxiClappers for the past two weeks and I have been b

We often live life at break neck speed and often we forget to take time to recharge our batteries, in this blog post I wanted to share a few thoughts with you all in regards to Mental Health. Mental Health is a term used to describe our psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. Our current mental health can affect the way we think, act, feel and interact with the world around us and it helps to determine the way in which we handle stress, relate to others and make our ow

I recently had the opportunity to interview a very active composer, Samuel Shelly who I have know for many years. I wanted to catch up with him to find out more about the recent projects that he has been involved in. 1. Over the past number of years you have had an enormous output of new compositions, what inspires you to write? My friend Andrew Elliott got me into writing some basic stuff and looking at some compositions by great brass band composers. I started to write musi

Over the past couple of days I have released a number of articles featuring the B# Cleaning Kit, from this I have received a number of questions which I thought I would address in the following blog post. 1. What does the B# Brass Cleaning Kit Contain? The B# Cleaning Kit Contains the following items. Instrument Soak, Finishing Polish, Henin Brush x2 (including Snake Brush with different sized ends for cleaning various slides and valves) and finally a cleaning cloth. 2. What

Commissioning new music can seem like a very daunting challenge which may seem out of reach for most people and so I wanted to write a blog post focused on my own experiences of commissioning new music. 1. Choose A Composer. The first thing which I wanted to state is that anyone can commission a piece of music and often the first step that needs to be taken is to find a composer this could be someone from your local musical organisation, a young composer or even an internat

Since early 2012, I have been commissioning new music and I wanted to share a list of all the music I have commission in the hope that one day more individuals will be interested in exploring and playing these commissions. Euphonium Solo: Dare To Be A Daniel - Ian Feltwell. Euphonium Solo: Eminence - Martin Corder. Euphonium Solo: In Gardens of Peace - Philip Harper. Euphonium Solo: El Olam - Roger Trigg. Euphonium Solo: A New Beginning - Dave Bishop Rowe. Euphonium Solo: Eup

After many months of patient waiting, I am really excited to share the very first images of my new Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium which arrived from the Besson Factory in Markneukirchen, Germany on Thursday 1st October 2020. I tested my new Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium for the first time on Saturday 3rd October 2020, and I was absolutely blown away by the rich sound, response and overall quality of this superb new instrument. On Sunday 4th October 2020, I took the opp

I was first introduced to the concept of Heavy Bottom Valve Caps when I first purchased my Sterling Virtuoso Euphonium which came with a full set of Heavy Bottom Valve Caps which were designed for each valve. I was so impressed by the sound that my Sterling Virtuoso made with the addition of these Heavy Valve Caps that I kept them on my instrument until I made the change to Besson. Heavy Bottom Valve Caps are not a new concept and are quite commonly used on Trumpets, Cornets

Hello everyone, I would not normally mix my professional and private life but I wanted to share a post about a topic which I have been passionate about for a long time which is all about special educational needs within music. In this blog post, I wanted to talk about specifically Dyslexia in music. Dyslexia is often seen as a hidden ability which can only be identified when certain activities are undertaken, this could include reading, writing and processing skills, often t

On Friday 3rd July 2020, I had the opportunity to test a wide range of Euphonium's at Rosehill Instruments and I wanted to share some of my thoughts from this very special visit. Over the course of the past few months, I have been thinking about updating my Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium which I have had since Wednesday 1st July 2015. After a journey of just under two hours, we reached Rosehill Instruments and were taken to a room where six Euphonium's were laid out for me

Over the course of the past month, I have been exploring different ways in which to put my own personal stamp on the projects which I am engaged with. To help me with this, I enlisted the help of Graphic Designer, Alessio Barbarino to help design a personal logo which could be used in a variety of different formats from social media to engravings. Over the course of June 2020, myself and Alessio discussed a variety of different concepts settling on a final concept on Friday 2

Hello everyone, It seems such a long time ago since I last posted on my blog. It is amazing to see the support that you have given me over these past few years. It has been incredible to see the impact of music during these difficult times. I have enjoyed seeing all the creative video's that have been created by musicians and which has bought joy all around the world. I have taken this opportunity to create my own YouTube Channel and I have really enjoyed editing and posting

It was in late 2016, that The Brass Musician first spoke to K&G Mouthpieces. In this interview we catch up with Dennis Kurun Camilleri and speak about the recent developments at K&G Mouthpieces It has been quite a number of years since we last interviewed K&G mouthpieces, can you explain how K&G mouthpieces have been developing during this time? Even though we were in the beginning, our mouthpieces since the first time they entered the market there was a lot of interest from

On Sunday 1st April 2018, British Euphonium Player Mark Glover released an exciting new solo CD entitled 'Hustle'. 'Hustle' was recorded entirely in Dubai with Mark sensitively accompanied by Vicky Zaharieva on the Piano. Between 2012 and 2015, Mark lived in Singapore and was challenged to promote the Euphonium to a new audience. Mark set about commissioning new works from a variety of different composers and arrangers which he could use within his recital programs. The resul

'Tips from the Top' makes a return with an exclusive interview with Dr Amy Bliss from The United States of America. Amy has built a career with combines her passion for performing and teaching. Amy currently teaches the euphonium at Rowan University and plays Solo Euphonium with The Atlantic Brass Band. 1. When did you start to play the euphonium? I started playing cornet when I was in the fifth grade. In my school’s program, students started on cornet and when they had a

On this week's 'Tips from the Top' we welcome French born Euphonium Player Lilian Meurin, Lilian needs no introduction to the brass banding world, being a regular on the British Brass Banding contest stage and also having the incredible achievement of recently winning the world renown Jeju International Brass Competition. 1. When did you start to play the euphonium? I started playing music when I was 4 years old with the drums and then, when I turned 9, I decided to tr

After a short break 'Tips from the Top' returns with a bang, chatting to Besson Artist and Principal Euphonium of The Leyland Band, James McLeod. 1. When did you start to play the Euphonium? I started on baritone when I was 7 at Hetton Lyons Primary School in the North East, I played baritone and percussion for the Houghton Area Youth Band and Houghton Brass then moved to euphonium when I was 12. 2. What has been your most interesting/unusual concert performance? I