Snell, Howard (21st September 1936-Present)

He is a trumpeter, conductor, composer, bandleader and teacher born in Wollaston, Northamptonshire, England.

He started out his career with performing in brass bands in the 1970s and being a winning musician in band competitions such as the Rothman’s Contest and the Granada Entertainment Contest on several occasions. He would soon be heard with ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, as the Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as being one of its directors and Chairman, and was a founder of the Wren Orchestra, who were closely associated with Londons Capital Radio for over a decade.

Concentrating on the music of brass bands, and founding the Howard Snell Brass, his name has become much recognised. In 1986 he went to Norway and began working with the Norwegian brass band Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag and made such an impact with them that he led them to winning several competitions that had always previously been won by British bands. He also later led the CWS Glasgow, the Black Dyke Band and Desford Colliery band, The Britannia Building Society Brass Band , The Brass Band of Battle Creek and several others.

Never a stranger to the recording studio he can be heard on his Howard Snell Brass Premiere, King’s Messenger and 20 Supreme Years with the Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag, Grace Williams: Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes and Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue/An American in Paris by the London Symphony Orchestra, Modern Brass, Baroque Brass, Classics for Brass and Fanfare with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Contrast of Trumpets with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Leopold Stokowski: The Decca Years 1965-1972.

As an author he has published his books The Trumpet – It’s Practice and Performance, A Guide for Students and The Art of Practice and as a teacher he has taught at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Sources:

Snell, Howard (21st September 1936-Present)

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