In conversation with founding members of the LUUMS Brass Band founded in September 1988.
Looking back on the year 1988, when LUUMS Brass Band was founded by a small community of student brass players at the University of Leeds. University brass bands were fewer and far between 38 years ago, and founders Sue Frencham, Sue Davidson, John Kinley and Mark Powell sought to create a space for student brass players in Leeds to get together and rehearse, perform and socialise.
Today, LUUMS Brass Band is one of the society’s busiest and sociable ensembles. The group competes annually at UniBrass, and this year came in second place in the shield section! Join us in conversation with Sue, Sue, John and Mark as they reflect on the success of the ensemble, and the growth of LUUMS across nearly 4 decades!
What was the experience of founding the LUUMS Brass Band like?
“In the first year of the band, we had players come from the Leeds College of Music [now known as the Leeds Conservatoire] which helped pad us out.
– Sue Davidson
– “The interesting thing about this is that we all really enjoyed playing together, whether it be in the wind band, big band or the brass band. And none of us really remember hugely about the playing! The bigger picture was the socialisation, the group and the belonging that it created as a result of that. But everybody that was there got a lot out of playing music, particularly brass instruments, and that’s what was the bond between us all really, and we all enjoyed that experience.”
– Sue Frencham
Acquiring instruments for the ensemble.
LUUMS invests in a drum-kit of its own.
School of Music storage today!
Welcoming a wider community of musicians.
“From that point [after the first year] it was a fairly big band – it was “welcome, all come” which has always been good. People enjoyed it.”
– Sue Davidson
“I just remember… it was very much a new thing in 1988-89, and then it just became established, it was just one of those things that LUUMS did.
We were mentioned non brass-band instruments and I can vividly remember… definitely having lots of trumpets, I remember us having french horns at various points. In a brass band traditionally the trombones played in B-flat treble clef, and having to transpose things for bass clef players, which is obviously more normal for people who have come from the orchestral world or the wind band world. We were open to all comers and we’d find a place for them and yeah… it was great!”
– John Kinley
The growing community of university brass bands
Reflecting on their legacy in LUUMS
LUUMS introduction leaflet
LUUMS Brass Band’s first
summer concert programme
Welcome letter from LUUMS president
The value of LUUMS as a student led society
“Since James has been at Leeds and he’s been involved in LUUMS, it’s been marvellous to hear how many of the things that were going when we were there are still going, and so many more… it’s not just the brass band, the symphony orchestra… there’s now 2 wind bands, an auditioned one and a non-auditioned one, the chorus etc… All these things are still going and there’s more and more groups being added, which is increasing diversity, more and more opportunities for people to make music, which is absolutely phenomenal. It’s also lovely to hear about the socials and… when brass band goes for a pint after rehearsals, which is what we used to do and it’s great to think that all these years later, the same traditions are carrying on, it’s just marvellous.”
– John Kinley
Leeds University Union Music Society 