Young ambassadors brass band

[Raymond Morris]

Back around 2005 a British youth brass band named "Young ambassadors" toured the U.S.A. and Canada and I was fortunate to hear them in Ottawa. They were so good and their euphonium girl player blew me away with a very fast rendition of "My Grandfathers Clock". Does anybody know anything about that band?

 

[MoominDave]

Others may know more - I only ever went along once (Easter 2005 to Luxembourg, I think it was). At that time it was full of excellent players, many of whom had been doing it for donkey's years. A seriously boozy trip...

So, as I know it (correct me if I go wrong), it was organised and conducted by Frank Wolff for many years, originally set up in the early 80s as a way for his daughters Elaine and Marilyn to stay in touch with their NYBB friends once they'd graduated from the band. It toured twice annually for many years, often to Luxembourg at Easter and USA/Canada in the summer. About a decade ago Frank decided he was getting on too much to run the big tour, so it became once yearly. I don't think he runs it at all now, though Frank is still a vigorous chap while closing in on 90 (so - really - fair enough!). Marilyn is our solo horn at Kidlington - I'll ask her about it tonight.

 

[MoominDave]

After chatting with Marilyn, some to add. First year was 1978. Ran up until last year. It was always a very heavily Frank-dependent exercise that relied on his connections around the world (born in the Netherlands before moving to Oxford in the 50s), organisational ability and energy, and unique presence with the stick. All of these roles would need to be replaced to continue it - I'm sure Frank would gladly offer support to anyone who wanted to try.