The Yorkshire Co-op Band was the product of a merger between the Jayess (Queensbury) and Jayess ’87 bands in 1998.
The band is proud to have been supported by The Co-operative group since 1998 and after a period between 2004 and 2007 being known as the United Co-op Yorkshire Brass Band, the band changed its name to Yorkshire Co-op in January 2008.
Yorkshire Co-op has claimed great success with numerous competition wins, a performance at the National Brass Band Finals in 1999 when it was placed Third, tours to Switzerland, Singapore and New Zealand, various new musical commissions including a major work by Darrol Barry entitled Andromeda Spiral and three CDs, A Step Through Time, Futures and Ten!
Annually the band undertakes a varied programme events from competitions to concerts and radio broadcasts and it frequently appears on Sky TV, BBC TV, Channel 4 and French Racing TV, with its numerous performances at national and international sporting events including the International Rugby League between Great Britain and New Zealand, the Tri-Nations Rugby League tournament, the Rugby Challenge Cup Final at Old Trafford, the Ebor Race Meet at York Races, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Hickstead Show Jumping Derby.
The band has also appeared on BBC TV in Kay Mellor’s drama Playing the Field and has worked with several international artists including Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson. The band is under the directorship of Musical Director Simon Kerwin and under Simon the band intends to undertake many diverse projects. In July 2010 the band undertook its final contest performance and from here on in the future is very exciting - stay tuned for more details of what lies ahead!