About
The Triangle Youth Brass Band, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, was formed in 1997 as an expansion of the Triangle Brass Band’s educational endeavors. The organization consists of four ensembles: the Triangle Youth 'J. Perry Watson' Brass Band, Triangle Youth Brass Band, Triangle Youth Academy Brass Band, and Triangle Youth Percussion Ensemble, and serves over 100 of the Triangle’s most talented young musicians. The mission of the TYBB is to provide engaging, transformative musical experiences to the finest high school brass and percussion players through exceptional performance in the British brass band medium. Over the past two decades, the TYBB has grown into one of the premier youth brass band programs in the United States. The Triangle Youth Brass Bands typically perform three concerts annually. Additionally, the groups often travel and perform outside the Triangle area of North Carolina. Directors have taken the bands to the NABBA Championships, where the band earned First Place Honors in the Youth Division in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2022 through 2025. The bands were featured performers at the Great American Brass Band Festival in 2003, the City of Greensboro’s Independence Day fireworks celebration in 2006 and 2008, and have performed with the Georgia Brass Band, US Coast Guard Band, Dallas Brass, Presidio Brass, Triangle Wind Ensemble, and Concert Singers of Cary. The TYBB program is comprised of approximately 100 brass and percussion students, in grades 9-12, who share a commitment to excellence in performance. Since 1997 the TYBB has represented high schools in Wake, Durham, Orange, Johnston, Cumberland, and Nash counties.
Choice Program
Program Notes
Commissioned in 2006 by the Besses o’ th’ Barn Band, World Tour commemorates the centenary of their historic 1906 global journey - the first of its kind for a brass band. During that tour, the band traveled primarily by sea to destinations including North America, Hawaii, Fiji, and Australia, allowing conductor Alexander Owen to constantly prepare new music. The first movement, The Leaving of Liverpool, depicts an ocean liner’s departure and includes a central section representing the band’s dockside performance of the march Punchinello and the National Anthem. Chicago Rag, the second movement, captures the band's residency in the 'Windy City,' where they likely encountered the era's popular ragtime music. Pacific Paradise follows, imagining the musicians relaxing on Hawaiian beaches, while the final movement, Australian Walkabout, playfully incorporates Waltzing Matilda to celebrate their triumphant reception in Melbourne. The work concludes with the return of the ocean-faring theme as the band sets sail for home, marking the end of their historic odyssey. Clydebuilt is a short descriptive overture, commissioned and premiered by the Riverside Youth Band in 2016. The band is based by the banks of the famous River Clyde, which is synonymous with shipbuilding.
