Birmingham Symphonic Winds (BSW) is a UK-based amateur

wind orchestra A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

in the style of the

Eastman Wind Ensemble The Eastman Wind Ensemble was founded by conductor Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952. The ensemble is often credited with helping redefine the performance of wind band music. At the time, concert bands used all of their playe ...

. BSW was established in 1992 by its

Musical Director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

, Keith Allen, with the aim of offering local players the opportunity to perform high-quality wind repertoire and contemporary compositions. It promotes its own themed concert series at the

CBSO Centre The CBSO Centre is the administrative home and rehearsal centre of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Choruses ( City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus and City of Bi ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, home to the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

, and has performed numerous UK and world premieres, including works by

Samuel Hazo Samuel Robert Hazo (born 1966) is an American composer, primarily of music for concert band. Biography Hazo is the son of the poet and playwright Samuel John Hazo and his wife, Mary Anne. After elementary and secondary schooling in the Upp ...

Philip Sparke Philip Allen Sparke (born 29 December 1951) is an English composer and musician born in London, noted for his concert band and brass band music. His early major works include ''The Land of the Long White Cloud – "Aotearoa"'', written for t ...

Martin Ellerby Martin Ellerby (1957, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England) is an English composer. He was educated at the Royal College of Music, London, where he was taught by Joseph Horovitz. His catalogue features works for orchestra, chorus, concert band, br ...

Kenneth Hesketh Kenneth Hesketh (born 20 July 1968) is a British composer of contemporary classical music in numerous genres including dance, orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo. He has also composed music for wind and brass bands as well as seasonal music for ...

and

Guy Woolfenden Guy Anthony Woolfenden (12 July 1937 – 15 April 2016) was an English composer and conductor. Biography Woolfenden was born in Ipswich and educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School, London, and Whitgift School, Croydon. He studied music a ...

, the orchestra's

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

. BSW has performed at UK and international music festivals, including the National Concert Band Festival, the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) conference in Schladming, Austria and the 4th International Wind Band Festival in Strasbourg. BSW was the first ever UK ensemble to perform at the

Midwest Clinic The Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference is the world's largest instrumental music education conference, annually drawing approximately 17,000 attendees to Chicago from all 50 states and as many as forty countries. It is he ...

, Chicago in December 2003. BSW also performed at the WASBE Conference in Killarney, Ireland in July 2007.

External links

Birmingham Symphonic Winds
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1992 English classical music groups Wind bands Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands 1992 establishments in England