ONE of the most famous brass bands in the world will be playing at Newtown’s Hafren theatre this Saturday night, March 24.

The Black Dyke Band traces its roots back to the brass and reed band formed by Peter Wharton in 1816 in the Yorkshire village of Queenshead later to become Queensbury.

They went to on to worldwide fame, not only as the most recorded band in the world with more than 350 recordings released, but also as the most successful band in competition, having won the European Championships 11 times, most recently in 2005, the British Open no fewer than 29 times (most recently 2006), and the National Championships of Great Britain 22 times (most recently 2008 and 2009).

The band has always been at the forefront of brass band activity, making one of the earliest brass band recordings in 1904 and embarking on a five month tour of Canada and the United States in 1906, on which it played in over 200 concerts and travelled over 13,000 miles.

In December 2005 a unique partnership was formed when Black Dyke Band and Leeds Metropolitan University joined together, building upon the success of the university’s cultural links with Opera North, Northern Ballet Theatre, Harrogate International Festival and the West Yorkshire Playhouse. This partnership will form a strategy for long-term support.

In 2006 as part of its initiative to sponsor the work of young people, Black Dyke Band formed the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band to inspire and motivate young people aged 11 to 18 years to achieve their full potential as musicians, composers and citizens.

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

Tickets for Saturday’s concert are priced £15 from the box office on 01686 614555.

Tickets are also available for another major brass band event at The Hafren, on June 2, when Tubular Brass present a mighty double-bill with prog rock classics performed live by Tubular Brass plus Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ arranged and conducted by Sandy Smith.