Youth and Beginners Brass Bands

Downshire Brass has a long history of working with young musicians in Northern Ireland and were one of the first local bands to establish a programme for young players in 1991.  Our young people gather at our rehearsal facilities in South Belfast at 6.30pm on Mondays to have fun making music together.

We operate 2 groups:
Beginners Band for those starting out on their brass playing journey. We generally recommend that children should be P4 (aged 7/8) or higher before taking up a brass instrument. The Beginners band is directed by Olivia Orr, the Band’s Youth Development Officer. Olivia, a distinguished performer on classical and jazz trumpet and piano, is one of Downshire’s front row cornet players and a musician deeply committed to developing playing skills in young players and older musicians.

Youth Band for those with more playing experience who require less assistance in rehearsals. Typically, youth band members have achieved Grade 2 standard or been playing for 2-3 years. The Youth Band is directed by Roger Doherty, one of the founding members of Downshire Brass and the long-term director of the youth and junior bands at Downshire. Roger has many years of experience in group and individual brass tuition and he is an experienced arranger of music for youth ensembles and brass bands.

Our groups perform 2 concerts per year:
The Downshire Brass Christmas Concert in December is a firm favourite on the local arts scene. It showcases the talents of our Senior, Youth and Beginners Bands and usually features a local choir to add to the festive atmosphere. Our End of Year Concert & BBQ in June is exclusively for our Beginner and Youth Bands where they show off the skills that they have developed over the year. It is a very informal affair held in our rehearsal rooms with a BBQ afterwards to thank our young people and their parents for their efforts.

There are also other public performance opportunities throughout the year such as carolling in local shopping centres and taking part in Solo & Ensemble Competitions.

We are always keen to welcome new members to our youth groups.
Instruments can be provided to band members (free of charge) subject to availability.  We do however ask for a voluntary contribution of £20 per school term to help towards the running costs of our organisation.  Additional donations are of course very welcome and will be put to good use.

If you are interested in getting involved please get in touch via the contact page on our website or email youth@downshirebrass.com

Please click here to register your interest.

2026-27 Term Dates

Autumn Term
Band Rehearsals Resume: Monday, 15th September
Half Term Break: Monday, 26th October
Christmas Concert: Saturday, 5th December
Carolling: TBC
Winter Break: Monday, 21st / 28th December

Spring Term
Band Resumes: Monday, 4th January
Solos & Ensembles Competition: Saturday, 6th February
Half Term Break: Monday, 8th February
Easter Break:** Monday, 22nd & 29th March

Summer Term
Band Resumes: Monday, 5th April
Bank Holiday: Monday, 3rd May
Bank Holiday:** Monday, 31st May
Summer Concert & BBQ: Monday, 14th June

 ** Marked Dates: We will review closer to the time. If sufficient numbers are available, we may run a rehearsal.