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| Heralded as a leading figure in the
worldwide brass community, Dr. Nicholas Childs has rightfully achieved
the highest international reputation as a performer, teacher/clinician,
conductor, interpreter and advocate of new music, and producer of
pacesetting recordings. Initial success came as a euphonium soloist and
partner with his talented brother, Dr. Robert Childs, who together have
literally toured the world as The Childs Brothers, performing in many of
the world's most famous concert halls with the most prestigious bands
and orchestras. Taking up the baton as a conductor, Nicholas has had
phenomenal success with many bands, including highly acclaimed national
championships. His current tenure as Principal Conductor and Director of
Music of the famous Black Dyke Band has been marked not only with
continued contest success, but with a series of innovative concerts and
world premieres of major works for brass band with a variety of soloists
and musical combinations. |
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He continues his advocacy of new music within the outstanding catalogue of
brass and wind band recordings he has recorded and produced in his award-winning
firm, Doyen Recordings. Not content with these activities, Dr. Childs is in
great demand as a teacher, clinician, and consultant throughout the academic
community. He serves as Senior Tutor in Brass Band Studies at the Royal Northern
College of Music, where he has taught for over twelve years. Further honours
have come with his appointment as Associate Conductor of the National Youth
Brass Band of Great Britain, and as Trustee of the Brass Band Heritage Trust.
In recent years Childs has premiered with Black Dyke Band new works by
leading British composers, including: Michael Ball - English Suite, Cambrian
Suite; Arthur Butterworth - Sinfonia Concertante; Martin Ellerby - Concerto for
Trombone and Brass Band; Philip Wilby - Concerto 1945 for Cornet and Brass Band,
Concerto Grosso, and Concerto for Tenor Horn and Brass Band. In June 2000 he
directed Fodens in the premiere of Edward Gregson's significant work, Trumpets
of the Angels. He followed this with the Royal Northern College of Music Brass
Band's first presentation of Danceries by Kenneth Hesketh. With Dr. Philip Wilby
as Composer-in-Residence of Black Dyke Band and Dr. Peter Graham as Associate
Conductor of this famed ensemble, Childs has presented innovative concert
programs with new and appealing music. Representative of these achievements was
Graham's Call of the Cossacks performed at the 2002 Gala Concert of the European
Brass Band Championships, Brussels. With Black Dyke Band Childs has featured in
some of the most recognized brass festivals, including several joint concerts
with the International Staff Band, especially the Gala Concerts in London's
Royal Albert Hall.
Childs has pursued a series of pace-setting recordings of much of this new
music, including Doyen releases showcasing the music of Michael Ball, Arthur
Butterworth, Peter Graham, and, with the International Staff Band, the music of
Wilfred Heaton. In the autumn of 2003 he and Black Dyke will release a dynamic
new recording celebrating the centenary of the dean of 20th-century brass band
composers, Eric Ball (1903-1989). With Black Dyke Band as Band-in-Residence at
the RNCM, Childs has been able to promote the widest range of literature,
several concerts of which have also led to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. One
program representative program included the January 2002 concert featuring
Philip Wilby's Atlantic, Michael Ball's Cambrian Suite, and Kenneth Hesketh's
Alchymist's Journal, the concert later broadcast in June, 2002.
As one of the world's most recognized masters of the euphonium and brass
specialist, Childs has performed and taught throughout the United Kingdom,
Europe, Australia, the Far East, Canada, and the United States. He has appeared
with such groups as the BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, United States Marine
Band ("The President's Own"), and the Canadian Brass. In addition, he
has been featured with nearly every major brass band throughout the world and
many wind bands, especially in university settings with the United States, where
he has been equally acclaimed for his teaching and clinic work.
With his roots in the British brass band tradition, having first been trained in
the Tredegar (Wales) Youth Band, Childs continues to give important emphasis to
the development of the brass band movement. This comes via his commitment of the
training of outstanding young musicians both at the collegiate level and within
the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. He has taken his teaching and
conducting skills to a variety of outstanding brass bands outside the UK. He has
served as the director of The National Youth Brass Band of Denmark, and has
gained national championships in France, Norway, Wales and Scotland. He has
reached the pinnacle of success with three recent National Championships of Great
Britain, 1999 with Fodens, and 2001 , 2004 with Black Dyke Band. The European
Championship in 2005 and, most recently the British Open Championship with Black
Dyke in 2005. His company, Doyen
Recordings, in cooperation with SP&S, Ltd., maintains the largest catalogue
of brass band recordings, The World of Brass, with Doyen recording the widest
range of ensembles, from Wind orchestras to the finest Brass Bands.
© Dr. Ron Holz
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