Kingdom Brass was formed in August 1999 after the amalgamation of the Cowdenbeath and the Kelty & Blairadam Bands. What seemed like a
sudden decision by many was actually the end process of 18 months of careful planning and negotiation, which started in the spring of
1998. Individuals in both camps saw the potential to form one band with the cream of players in Fife which would be capable of challenging
for the top honours.
A meeting between the two band committees was organised, and this took place in the Warout Stadium in Glenrothes in the summer of 1999.
The proposals were discussed and the majority voted for the amalgamation. Both bands were then advised of the decision, which was positively
welcomed by the majority of players.
The final competition between the two bands was the Scottish Miners Gala, which saw the rivalry of past years put aside with players from
both bands guesting with the other in an almost party atmosphere. Cowdenbeath won the event, Kelty were runners up, and with that the new
band was born.
Kingdom competed for the first time at the Fife Championships of 1999, and easily swept the boards at that event. In the years since then the
band has went on to win countless trophy after trophy, and is now firmly established as one of Scotland's top bands. Kingdom has been awarded
the title of Scottish Band of the year 2000 and 2001, and won the Forth Valley competition in 2001 after being runners up in that event in 1999
and 2000. A highlight for the band was competing at the National Finals in the Royal Albert Hall in 2000. The band won the Carnegie Invitation
Contest in 2005, retaining the title in 2007, 2008 and 2010 (after being absent in 2006 due to the band's tour of Germany, and in 2009 to concentrate
on the Spring Festival). In 2008 Kingdom finally broke into the top 3 at the Scottish Championships, the best result by a Fife band in 30 years.
Kingdom has also found success at a National Level, winning the 2006 Senior Trophy competition and gaining third place at the 2009 Senior Cup, and
with it promotion to the Grand Shield.
The band can boast some of the finest solo players in Scotland, and produced the Scottish Solo champion in 2000 (cornet player Lee Bathgate),
2001 (tuba player Gareth Ross) and 2008 (when cornet player James Smith lifted his eighth Scottish Title). The band's trombone quartet has been
runners up at the Scottish Championships in 2000 and 2001, while Kingdom's mixed quartet became Scottish Champions in 2001, a title they retained
in 2007 and again in 2008.
The success of the band in the initial years enabled Kingdom to move on to a higher stage competition wise, with invites to the Spring Festival
competition (the qualifiers for the British Open) each year since 2001. The band was also invited to compete at the European Open Brass Band
Championships in 2002, which was held in the impressive 'Kultur und Kongresszentrum' in Lucerne, Switzerland. That trip proved to be the highlight
of the band's first few years, with a creditable sixth placing and an invite back to the event for 2003 where the band gained seventh place.
Kingdom was approached early in 2004 by Bob Ross, conductor of the renowned brass ensemble 'Blechschaden' (which is made up of members of the brass
section of the Munich Philharmonic) to appear alongside them in a TV documentary while they toured Scotland in May 2004. The success of this
documentary (which has been seen by many millions throughout Europe) led to a partnership being formed, with an invite extended to Kingdom to
perform a series of concerts in Germany. In April 2006 Kingdom Brass embarked on a week long tour of Germany, performing sell out concerts from
Hamburg in the north to Munich in the south. Kingdom again appeared alongside Bob on German TV in 2008 when filming took place during one of
the band's Christmas concerts in December 2007.
Kingdom Brass Youth Initiative
The Kingdom Brass Youth Initiative (KBYI) was proposed in February 2007 following the very poor turn out in the youth sections at the Fife
Charities Band Association (FCBA) solo & ensemble contest.
An initial meeting was held between members of Kingdom Brass and Alan Edmond, the Youth Development Officer for the Scottish Brass Band
Association (SBBA). This meeting led to the formation of a 5 year youth development plan for Kingdom Brass, and the formation of the KBYI.
Initial funding was received in September 2007 from the National Lottery Awards for All scheme.
In November 2007 the first workshops were held in local primary schools, and tuition began in December of 2007.
The first concert appearance of Kingdom Brass Youth was in August 2008, alongside Kingdom Brass at the Aberdour Festival.
The first competition appearance of Kingdom Brass Youth was in August 2008, at Brass in the Park in Newtongrange.
In September 2008, Kingdom Brass was awarded a Youth Music Initiative Large Grant from the Scottish Arts Council. This investment allowed a
professional tutor and conductor to be employed on a part time basis by the organisation to oversee the development of the members and tutors.
The Scottish Arts Council awarded Kingdom Brass a YMI Small Grant in September 2009 to launch the Kingdom Brass Percussion Academy, to teach
percussion alongside brass.
