Hammonds
History
Hammonds Band has an impressive pedigree, with roots going back 167 years to 1855 when a brass band was formed as one of the amenities for the people of Saltaire. This was one of the ‘model villages’ built during the first half of the 19th century by wealthy industrialists and was the brainchild of Sir Titus Salt, a philanthropic mill-owner and one-time Mayor of Bradford.
In recent years the band has secured its place in the championship section with a number of strong performances at the Yorkshire Area. In 2016 the band achieved a long-term goal of breaking into the top six at the contest and 2017 saw us build upon this success, gaining the runner up position and return to the Albert Hall for the first time in ten years. We are delighted to be invited back again in 2022.
The band has also broken new ground outside the contest arena. This has seen us form a partnership with the multi-instrumentalist Shri Sriram to fuse brass band and traditional Indian music together. As a result of this partnership the band has had the chance to perform at the 2015 London Jazz Festival and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival as an integral part of Shri's piece, entitled 'Just a Vibration'. We have also featured on Cerys Matthews' BBC Radio 6 music show, as well as on the BBC Asian Network. British Airways also included the CD in their in-flight entertainment system for six months as well as including an article (written by Cerys Matthews) about the project in their in-flight magazine.
Principal Players
Principal Cornet - Kirsty Abbotts
Soprano Cornet - Alan Morrison
Solo Horn - Zoe Wright
Solo Euphonium - Mike Kilroy
Solo Trombone - Adam Warburton
