|
|
|
BRETT BAKER BSc. (Hons) ARCM PG Dip. Trombone Soloist, Conductor, Teacher and Adjudicator Supported by Michael Rath Trombones Please click on the options on the left for details on performances and contest history. Biography "Brett is a trombonist who combines robust flair with delicacy, technical accomplishment with a warm audience personality. I have worked with him and thoroughly enjoyed the experience." Howard Snell"Brett Baker is surely at the playing pinnacle of his glittering career - his strength and depth of sound can give way in an instant to the most heart-warming delicacy, and his phenomenally flawless technique is equally matched by an elegant ability to enhance a melodic line with musicianship and responsiveness" Anthony Leggett; Brass Band World. Brett Baker, Black Dyke’s Principal Trombone, is one of Europe’s leading brass players and teachers and now a clinician for Michael Rath Musical Instruments Ltd.. Before the age of twenty-five he had won every major brass band competition, the Nationals, the British Open and the European Championships. He is currently the most recorded trombone soloist in the brass band movement and was guest artisit on six CDs in 2006. He is a past trombone solo champion of Great Britain and an Associate of the Royal College of Music.
Brett is from the
Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and was introduced to the trombone at the age
of ten by his father. His first teacher was Bryan Nelmes at Bream Band. After
two years at Lydbrook Band where he was taught by Rob Morgan and Ken Harmon, he
moved to the Polysteel (Flowers) Band and the National Youth Brass Band where he served a
further two years as Principal Trombone. In 1992 Brett began studies at Salford University
in Manchester. He became a finalist in BBC’s Young Musician of the Year, and
soon joined the Fairey Band. Brett was again a finalist in the British Open Solo
Championships in 1992/3, and Trombone Solo Champion in 1993/4. He was trombone
tutor at Salford University from 1993-1996 and studied under David King.
Brett’s first solo recording "Bone Idyll" with the Fairey Band was
completed in 1996. His advisor at the time was Denis Wick. In the
1990s he won the Open, National and European Championships, the North West Area
Contest and Cambridge Masters with the Fairey Band. He also won the Brass in
Concert Entertainment contest where he was the featured soloist and was awarded
“performer of the year” by his fellow players. Brett studied at the
Royal Northern Conservatoire in 2000 under Chris Houlding, John Iveson and John
Miller and subsequently joined Black Dyke. Under the Direction of Dr Nicholas
Childs, Brett has performed on over forty CDs in seven years. Other
highlights have included two trips to the USA and Bermuda, and winning the
National Championships in 2001 & 2004 and the European and British Open
Championships in 2005 and 2006. As well as a hectic
playing schedule Brett enjoys presenting workshops and lectures, he specializes
in solo performance techniques and the education of younger players. Brett has
been trombone tutor for the Swiss Youth Band and Star Lake Music Camp near New
York. He is currently trombone tutor of the National Children’s Brass Band of
Great Britain and has been trombone tutor of the Northern Brass Band Trust in
Durham since 1992. In 2006 he became Chairman of the British Trombone Society
and Secretary of the International Trombone Association.
As a brass clinician
Brett, has visited Australia, Brazil, Dubai,
France, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan and New Zealand. Brett has given
workshops and recitals at Birmingham Conservatory, Leeds University, The
National Arts Club USA, the New York Brass Conference and the University of
Toronto. He has been a guest soloist with bands all over the world. As a
freelance artist, Brett has played with Grimethorpe, Fodens, Yorkshire Building
Society and the Leyland Band. Brett has regularly performed in the Royal Albert
Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Symphony Hall Birmingham and
Bridgewater Hall Manchester. Over the past ten years Brett has been keen to promote new music for the trombone including a joint project with Leeds University and Dr Philip Wilby. Brett has been involved with over thirty commissions including composers such as Robin Dewhurst, Philip Sparke, Philip Harper, Darrol Barry and Martin Ellerby. Brett lives with his wife Sarah in Cheshire and is increasingly building a reputation as a conductor and adjudicator. |
