About Us

Edinburgh Brass Band was formed in November 2011 by a group of enthusiastic brass players who wished to continue their brass playing in a fun and social environment in the heart of Edinburgh. The brass band was set up as a non-auditioning community brass band, with a focus on the fun of playing music. While we choose not to compete (there is a , we still challange ourselves with some of our musical choices we make so the band are always developing and improving. This appears to have been a winning formula and the band has grown massively since it's first rehearsal in April 2012.

Now a well known and established band within the city, Edinburgh Brass Band focus a lot of their efforts on supporting local community and charity events. We love introducing new audiances to brass bands and also just exposing future generations to the joy of listening to and performing live music.

We are an inclusive band with a diverse range of backgrounds and ages but a shared common interest in music. Many of our players had previously given up their playing but were tempted back by the convenience, flexibility and social nature of Edinburgh Brass Band.

If you're a percussionist or brass player and are interested in  joining us, or simply finding out more about the band, please get in touch.


Edinburgh has always had a strong brass band tradition. The newly formed Edinburgh Brass Band follows in the footsteps of the 'City of Edinburgh Band' which after its formation in 1925 was active for more than 55 years. The 'City of Edinburgh Band' was a very successful contesting band and its reputation led to invites to play at a number of high profile performances including broadcasts from Edinburgh's own BBC studio. The local Edinburgh communities also supported the band enthusiastically, with football fans even adopting the band as the 'Hearts' band' in recognition of its regular spot performing before games in Tynecastle Park.

After officially disbanding, the 'City of Edinburgh Band' donated all its instruments and documents to the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments where some of them can still be seen today. The documents have been used to compile an excellent book detailing the band's full history; 'City of Edinburgh Band 1925-2005' by Eugenia Mitroulia. The band's music collection was discovered in some old packing crates and was gifted to the new Edinburgh Brass Band. The collection has since been returned to good order and many of the pieces are once more being performed around Edinburgh.