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Brett Baker

Brett Baker is viewed internationally as a leading brass performer and educator. He is passionate about encouraging composers to write pioneering new repertoire being one of the most recorded brass soloists.
Brett is the Marketing Lead for Denis Wick and Alliance Products and continues to be an ambassador for Michael Rath Brass Instruments and Principal Trombone of the Black Dyke Band.


Brett has performed with singers such as Alison Goldfrapp and Hayley Westenra, trumpet soloist Alison Balsom and other trombone soloists such as Ian Bousfield, Wycliffe Gordon, Christian Lindberg and Joseph Alessi. Brett has played as a soloist at the International Trombone Festival in the USA and Trombonanza in Argentina, the American Trombone Workshop in Virginia, the Great American Brass Band Festival in Kentucky and the Singapore, Philippine and Thailand Low Brass Festivals.


Originally from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, Brett studied at the University of Salford, simultaneously joining the Fairey Band, conducted by Major Peter Parkes in 1992. He had many contest successes including an historic treble in 1993/4. At Salford he was taught by Professor David King, whilst also studying for a degree in Business Economics. In 2000 he was invited to join the Black Dyke Band by Professor Nicholas Childs, achieving enviable contest successes. Now as well as a performance schedule of 40 concerts a year, Brett enjoys presenting workshops, specialising in solo performance and band training. His research includes trombone solo repertoire, trombone instrument design through modular assembly and the psychology of performance. He was Programme Leader at the University of Salford Musical Arts degree from 2013-2019.


He regularly tours in the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as a soloist, teacher, conductor and adjudicator. As a consultant, Brett, has worked with Michael Rath Musical Instruments for over 17 years on instrument design and has assisted in production of a signature mouthpiece as well as range of tenor trombones. As a conductor, Brett has many associations with bands in the North of England, and was guest conductor of the University of Salford Brass Band, the brass band at the Royal Northern College of Music, the National Youth band of Scotland, the European Youth Brass Band, Thoresby Colliery, Carlton Main Frickley Colliery and the Leyland Bands. Brett was conductor of the University of Salford Symphonic Wind Band from 2014-2019 and is now
conductor of both the Yorkshire Youth Band and the North-East Midlands Youth Brass Band. As an adjudicator, Brett serves on the executive of the Association of Brass Band Adjudicators as Vice Chair and has judged the International Trombone Association in the USA, the National Solo Championships in Switzerland, many Association contests, the National Finals in the Netherlands and Lithuania, New Zealand and Australia. The Butlins Mineworkers Festival and most of the regional area qualifiers for the National Championships of Great Britain.


He is a past trombone tutor of the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland, and National Youth and Children’s Brass Bands of Great Britain, the European Youth Brass Band, the International Brass Band Summer School in Swansea as well as low brass tutor of the International Summer School in Dartington, Devon.


In 2020 Brett won the ITA Presidents Award for Solo Performance and services to the International Trombone Association.

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