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| In August 1995, at the instigation of Alan McLaren, five local bands, Penicuik Silver, MacTaggart Scott Loanhead, Greenhall, Dalkeith & Monktonhall Colliery and Newtongrange, joined forces to present a Midlothian Massed Brass Day. The format involved the various bands performing outdoors in their respective home towns and villages during the morning, followed by a massed march and massed band concert performance in Loanhead during the afternoon. Other than small contributions from the participating bands, the event had no financial support to speak of and therefore there was no money to spend on things such as marquees. Fortunately, the weather remained dry! |
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| In 1996 the event was repeated but with Newtongrange being adopted as the venue for the entire programme. Sponsorship was obtained from Edinburgh legal firm Menzies Dougal W.S. and this allowed a large marquee to be hired to accommodate the bands. This was fortunate as it poured with rain during the morning with the sun appearing just in time for the massed march around the village. The five local bands again took part and were joined by St. Ronan’s Silver and Arran Brass. A Social Evening in Newtongrange Band Hall was added to the programme. |
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| It appeared that the event would disappear from the calendar in 1997 as no joint event was planned by the original five bands, but Newtongrange Band, wishing to retain a successful event, stepped in and re-launched the event as “”. Invitations to participate were sent to bands outwith the local area and this led to players from Fauldhouse, Sanquhar, Jedforest and Cowdenbeath bands joining in. Midlothian Council stepped in with plant and labour assistance and Menzies Dougal W.S. agreed to continue the sponsorship which they had provided the previous year. 1997 also saw the introduction of separate entertainment for children. |
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| In 1998 expanded to a full weekend of events with a Gala Concert on the Friday evening and a musical programme entitled Praise in Brass on the Sunday afternoon in addition to the main programme on the Saturday. Guest artists on the Friday evening were Sheona White and Angela Whelan. Another addition was the introduction of a March Contest as part of the Saturday programme, this being contested by Cowdenbeath, Greenhall, Tullis Russell Mills and Hawick Saxhorn Bands. |
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| For the 1999 event, Kirkintilloch appeared as guest band for the Friday evening concert and 15 bands participated in the Saturday programme. Ten of these bands took part in the March Contest including Easington Colliery who travelled north from County Durham and became the first band from outwith Scotland to attend the event. |
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| In 2000, with additional sponsorship from Newtongrange Band’s principal sponsors, Neil Williams Haulage under the Arts & Business Pairing Scheme, plus continued support from Menzies Dougal W.S. and Midlothian Council, it was possible to reinstate the Sunday afternoon Praise in Brass concert and add a whole range of other attractions to provide a full afternoon of events on the Sunday. For the 2000 Friday evening concert, Dalkeith & Monktonhall Colliery Band were the guest band with David Childs as guest soloist. Despite a very wet evening a capacity audience packed the main marquee for this opening concert. |
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| The format for the Saturday was altered to allow an expansion of the contests with separate music and marching deportment events. This change, not to mention the substantial prizemoney on offer, certainly proved popular with the bands with 15 bands taking part. The ever popular impromptu massed band concerts were retained and took place following the conclusion of the contests. The weather was again rather poor on the Saturday but the sun finally shone on the Sunday when a large crowd enjoyed a musical garden party which concluded with massed brass and pipe bands. |
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| In 2001 the event was fortunate to enjoy good weather throughout the entire weekend and this certainly brought out the crowds with excellent attendances being recorded. A new style of main marquee was used for the first time and this proved a great success both in terms of acoustics and the general atmosphere of the event. Livingston Brass, the 2001 2nd Section Scottish Champions were welcome guests for the Friday evening concert and 16 bands participated in the contest with an own choice march and hymn tune format being adopted. |
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| The Sunday programme was further developed in 2001 with ceilidh, swing and pipe bands participating. The format of the event had now become reasonably settled with many elements which were proving exceptionally popular with the public including, in particular, the Sunday afternoon Praise in Brass Concert and the finale featuring massed brass and pipe bands, the main marquee being filled to overflowing for both of these events. At the end of the 2001 event there was only one complaint from a number of audience members and that was that the ticket prices were far too cheap for the excellent entertainment on offer throughout the weekend! |
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| In 2002 the team of volunteer helpers was soaked to the skin by heavy rain throughout the Friday as the tented village was being erected. The rain was so heavy that at one point parts of the site began to flood and it was feared that it would prove impossible to get everything in place for the opening concert. Thankfully, the weather eventually relented, the sun appeared and all was well. The concert turned out to be one of the best with Guest Soloist Russell Gray on top form. |
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| Seventeen bands participated in the Saturday contests, this number including three bands taking part in a contest for the first time, CIS Youth Concert Brass, Clydebank Burgh Juniors and Loanhead Brass Roots. The March and Hymn Tune format of the contest was expanded to include items featuring soloists and this considerably enhanced the entertainment for the spectators with some excellent performances. |
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| The 2003 event saw schoolchildren from throughout Midlothian taking part in a Friday morning workshop with Russell Gray and in the evening international opera star Janis Kelly joined Newtongrange Band for the Gala Concert. A record number of 22 bands took part in the contests, this number including three bands in the new Development Section contest for junior and training bands with an upper age limit of 16 years. Excellent weather conditions prevailed throughout the weekend and it was standing room only for the Massed Band Finale when Janis Kelly emerged from the audience to join the massed brass and pipe bands in a truly memorable rendition of Highland Cathedral. |
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| 2003 also saw a significant change in the organisation of . With the event having grown considerably over the years, it was decided to set up a separate organisation to deal exclusively with the now substantial arrangements and the Brass in the Park Association was duly established with Alan McLaren as President, Grant O’Connor as Secretary and Alex Denholm as Treasurer. The new arrangements allowed interested parties from the community, some representing other community groups, to join the organising committee and so create a broader based organisation. The strong link between Newtongrange Silver Band and was however maintained with the band working in partnership with the new organisation and taking on the role of host band for the event. |
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| For the 2004 event Alan Morrison appeared as guest soloist and the United Co-op Yorkshire Band returned to successfully defend the contest title which they had won the previous year. 15 bands participated in the contest for senior bands with a further 4 taking part in the Development Section which was won by Jedforest Juniors. |
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| 2005 was a special year with Newtongrange Band appearing at as the Champion Band of Scotland following their success at the 2005 Scottish Championships. The band’s win was historic as, having won the First Section title at the 2004 Scottish Championships, Newtongrange became only the second band in Scottish banding history and the first in over 100 years to secure the top section title in the year immediately following victory in the section immediately below. The only other band to achieve that feat was the long defunct Polton Mills Band whose back to back successes came in 1903 and 1904. |
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| Guest soloist in 2005 was Alex Kerwin, a former principal cornet with Newtongrange who had gone on to become British Open Solo Champion in 2003 and was a member of the Black Dyke Mills Band which secured the British Championship title at the Royal Albert Hall in 2004. Dalmellington secured the 2005 Brass in the Park contest title in a field of 16 bands with Loanhead Brass Roots taking top place of the 5 bands in the increasingly popular Development Section. |
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| The tenth staging of the event in 2006 almost proved to be the last. Heavy rain throughout the Saturday and in the early part of the Sunday substantially cut visitor numbers and therefore the gate receipts and other income from the event, almost wiping out the Association’s financial reserves. |
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| International tuba virtuoso Steve Sykes was the guest artist for the Friday evening concert and Dalmellington and Loanhead Brass Roots both repeated the successes of the previous year in the senior band and development section contests respectively. The sun eventually shone on the Sunday afternoon when a particular highlight was the appearance of Scocha whose mix of traditional Scottish and Celtic music and song with a Rock n Roll attitude proved to be a big hit with the audience. |
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| Rather better weather conditions prevailed in 2007 when the Dalkeith Singers became the first choir to appear at the event, joining Newtongrange Band for the opening concert. A different format for the senior band contest was tried out with bands playing marches at three different locations, including at the nearby Scottish Mining Museum. Whitburn emerged triumphant with the Scottish all star female band, Girls Allowed as runners up. |
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| The ever popular youth band contest was further expanded with the introduction of a Novice Section with an upper age limit of 14 years. Langholm Town juniors took the honours in the new section with Dalmellington Juniors triumphant in the Development section. A record 10 bands took part in the youth band contest which was sponsored by Yamaha. |
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