Black Dyke Band
In 1816 Peter Wharton founded a brass and reed band in the Yorkshire village of Queenshead – later to become Queensbury. John Foster, apart from being the founder of Black Dyke Mills, played French Horn in this band. It has been said on many occasions that Black Dyke was formed from it; however this is not strictly true, as “Peter Whartons band went out of existence through loss of members”. In 1833 a new band was formed named ‘Queenshead Band’, which may well have contained players from the former band. It is reported that this Band reached its Zenith from 1838 to 1843, at which time it consisted of 18 musicians”.

On the 15th. September 2005 the band were proud to celebrate their 150th anniversary, two of the many highlights were the publication of “150 Golden Years”, a book by Dr. Roy Newsome, in word and photograph, describing the history and the progress of Black Dyke Band from 1855 to 2005. Also a unique ‘triple CD’ covering the recorded musical history of the band from the early days of 1903 to the present day.

Black Dyke Band is the most recorded band in the world with over 350 recordings and growing every year. It is also the most successful contesting band in the world having won the European Championships thirteen times, most recently in 2015, the British Open no fewer than 30 times (most recently 2014) and the National Championships of Great Britain 23 times (most recently 2014). In 2009, and again in 2011, 2012 and 2013, the band became Champion Band at the English National Championships and were named English National Champions in 2014 by virtue of having won the National Brass Band Championships in October 2014.

In August 2007 the Band were invited to take part in the BBC Promenade Concerts, at the Royal Albert Hall, London

In 2006 as part of its initiative to sponsor the work of young people, Black Dyke Band, under the guidance of Dr. Nicholas Childs assisted by qualified members, formed the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band . The purpose is to inspire and motivate young people aged 11 to 21 years to achieve their full potential as musicians, composers and citizens.

John Wilson
is in demand at the highest level across the globe, having conducted many of the world’s finest orchestras over the past 30 years. In 2018 he relaunched Sinfonia of London: described as ‘the most exciting thing currently happening on the British orchestral scene’ (The Arts Desk), Wilson and the Sinfonia’s much-anticipated BBC Proms debut in 2021 was praised as ‘truly outstanding’ (The Guardian) with its ‘revelatory music-making’ (The Times). They are now highly sought-after across the UK, returning to the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh Festival and London’s Barbican Centre among other festivals and venues this season.

Wilson’s large and varied discography with Sinfonia of London has received near-universal critical acclaim, and in the autumn of 2023 they will release their 17th album in five years. Their recordings have earned several awards including, for three successive years, the BBC Music Magazine Award in the Orchestral category for the Korngold Symphony in F sharp (2020), Respighi Roman Trilogy (2021) and Dutilleux Le Loup (2022) recordings. The Observer described the Respighi recording as “Massive, audacious and vividly played” and The Times declared it one of the three “truly outstanding accounts of this trilogy” of all time, after those by Toscanini (1949) and Muti (1984).

Born in Gateshead, Wilson studied composition and conducting at the Royal College of Music where, in 2011, he was made a Fellow. In March 2019, John Wilson was awarded the prestigious ISM Distinguished Musician Award for his services to music and in 2021 was appointed Henry Wood Chair of Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music.