Le Brass Band de Charente
The Brass Band de Charente was created in January 2010, when no such orchestra existed in the department. Today, it remains the only one of its kind.
It is run by the association Cuivres en Charente, whose aim is to promote music played by brass instruments. The association organizes educational projects, concerts and musical exchanges.
Francis Chiché, a trumpet teacher at the Charente Departmental Council's music school, is the founder of this brass band, of which he is currently artistic and musical director.
The Brass Band de Charente is an orchestra composed exclusively of brass and percussion instruments.
Brass instruments include cornets, euphoniums, baritones, trombones, a flugelhorn, horns and tubas. This unique instrumentation characterizes the English brass band as we know it.
The percussion instruments are the same as those found in other orchestras: drums, cymbals, gong, congas, bongos, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, timpani, and so on.
With the exception of trombones, which have cylindrical bores for power and brilliance, the other brass instruments belong to the saxhorn family. Their conical bore gives them a softer sound. Thus, a brass band does not include trumpets, but cornets.
The layout of the orchestra is characteristic: it's a 'U' shape in which the musicians are very close to each other. This arrangement, combined with the timbres of the brass instruments used and the support of the percussion, gives this ensemble a unique, warm and rounded sound that is immediately recognisable.
There are a lot of brass bands in Great Britain and Northern Europe in general, where they are very popular, but not many in France.
The Brass Band de Charente is made up of around thirty musicians, all of whom are enthusiastic volunteers.