I believe the practice of using a choral or hymn tune to develop fundamental playing basics in order to ‘warm up’ a brass ensemble is universally supported. However, this imaginative little exercise combines the virtues of choral playing with additional challenges addressing ensemble, phrasing, balance, dynamics (inc. crescendos and diminuendos), intonation (inc. unison passages) and varied articulations. For the discerning band in search of quality, not quite as easy as it looks !
Prof. Chris Houlding
A graduate of London’s Guildhall School of Music, he studied with Denis Wick, Eric Crees and Peter Gane, and was awarded the Principal’s Prize. As a former Head of Brass at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music he is currently Professor of Trombone and Brass Ensemble at the Folkwang University of Arts, Essen, Germany and Visiting Tutor at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Voted 2014 Teacher of the Year by the British Trombone Society he is a regular Low Brass Professor with the European Union Youth Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and Schleswig Holstein Festival Orchestra.
Chris is multi-faceted performer, teacher, conductor and composer. In 1980, aged 20, he toured with the London Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Celibidache at the invitation of Denis Wick and was appointed Principal Trombone of the Orchestra of Opera North in the following year, a seat he held for twenty-seven years. He has since appeared as Guest Principal major ensembles including the London Symphony, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Mahler Chamber, MusikFabirk and London Brass and still plays regularly as soloist and with chamber groups such as Superbrass and The Symphonic Brass of London.
As conductor he is equally at home in the symphonic and operatic repertoire having conducted the Bochum Symphoniker, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal and Birmingham Conservatoire Pops but specialises in Brass Ensemble (Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Essen Philharmoniker, Trinity Laban Conservatoire etc) and Brass Band (Black Dyke, Grimethorpe, Whitburn, Yorkshire Imps etc). His current passion isspreading the Brass Band Gospel in Germany as a member of the Deutsche Brass Band Verband Music Commission and assisting the development of bands such as NRW Youth Brass Band, Blechklang, Brass BandEssen, United Harriet Colliery Dortmund and many others.
