ONYX BRASS

News

Britten’s Funeral Music soon on OBP

Snape Maltings

One of the most satisfying aspects of being part of Onyx Brass is to discover pieces by well-known composers which, for whatever reason, have been neglected – neither performed or recorded. Our Fanfares disc started us out on this journey but the journey continues. The Britten Pears Archive very kindly shared with us sketches from…

Onyx Herald the New Archbishop of Canterbury

Order of service for Instalment of Archbishop of Canterbury

Onyx were delighted and honoured to be an important constituent part of the ceremony to install Dame Sarah Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury. An historic day with two brass fanfares announcing two significant moments. James Maynard’s Fanfare heralded the arrival and procession of Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales…

5* review for Transatlantic

Great to see Transatlantic receive another glowing review, this time from the specialist brass website, 4 Bars Rest. The review is punctuated with fantastic descriptions of the music and of the interpretations that we brought to the recording. A favourite is; His [Joseph Horovitz] subtle characterisations of the skills of the dance hall performers and…

Holocene Live Recording Released

16th July 2025 sees the release of NMC Recordings’ live recording of Holocene, our New Music Biennial 2025 collaboration with Ailís Ní Ríain. Recorded live at Bradford Cathedral, Ní Ríain describes it as ‘an evocative and unconventional work for professional brass quintet, community brass and bowed cymbals, weaving raw and intricate soundscapes that push the…

Transatlantic Reviewed in Gramophone

Its always good to receive reviews from the press and we are especially humbled to receive glowing praise from the Gramophone Magazine, one of the premier music publications.

Onyx Brass at the Aldeburgh Festival 2025

Snape Maltings

What a great time we had at the Aldeburgh Festival. Not only did we give the world premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Funeral completed by Bernard Hughes, we were joined by students of Royal College of Music on both days, raising it to another level. This weekend wouldn’t have been the success it was. Huge thanks…

World Premiere of Britten’s Funeral Music

This Sunday 29th June sees us giving the world premiere of Benjamin Britten’s Funeral Music, a work that has been completed from fragments that live in the Britten Pears Archive in Aldeburgh by composer Bernard Hughes. Though similar in scoring, this is a different piece from the Russian Funeral for Brass and Percussion. It is…