The Wallace Collection exists to promote the diverse world of brass music. We aim to inspire, entertain, develop, educate and innovate. Equally at home in the music of our own times as well as in the great heritage of brass music stretching back through history, we are passionate about working with young people, the future of our music.
The Wallace Collection performs in many contexts and locations. Recent events range from Steve Harley and Cockney Rebels in the Glasgow Concert Hall to the Epiphany Festival in Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, which we organised with Stephen Cleobury, Markus Stockhausen, London Voices, George Benjamin, Judith Weir and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Festival projects include two first performances of works for brass band and brass quintet: the semi-staged De Profundis at the East Neuk Festival with actor Maureen Beattie; and Jay Capperauld’s As Above, So Below at the Cumnock Tryst. Memorable performances have taken place at the Mineworkers’ Open Brass Band Championships at Butlin’s Resort, Skegness, the British Brass Band Championships at Cheltenham Racecourse, the Fringe of Gold festival in St Andrews and the Three Palaces Festival in Malta. Future events include performances in New York, Dublin, Essen and Scotland’s Highlands and Islands.
The Wallace Collection is currently ensemble-in-residence at the University of St Andrews, where it is a delivery partner for StAMP (St Andrews Music Participation), the major outreach project of the Laidlaw Music Centre. This five-year project encompasses a performance programme playing the canonic repertory of brass from the sixteenth century to the present day and a Discovering Brass educational programme involving collaboration with Fife local authority primary schools and community brass bands.
Our History
The Wallace Collection was launched by John Wallace in two concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in 1986, with an eclectic mix of old and new in both instrumentation and repertoire. The ensemble has appeared regularly at the Edinburgh and other international Festivals and toured widely through Europe, Russia, North and South America, Australasia, Africa and Asia.
Variable in size from five to fifty, The Wallace Collection continues to make recordings covering a rich diversity of repertoire. Its Sousa album reached number one in the US Billboard ‘crossover’ charts. Its reputation, however, has been built on stretching horizons towards new repertoire and new sounds; reaching back to uncover buried musical treasures; and introducing exciting new artistic talents to the public.
