The difficult economic situation of recent years has proved too much for Sounding Brass/Brass International.
Out of a spirit of solidarity and in order to preserve certain ideas, but also to widen our horizons, we have invited M. Thomas Aitken, the editor of Brass International to work with us permanently on BRASS BULLETIN. We warmly welcome him and his readers to our pages. This collaboration will undoubtedly see the beginning of a new adventure which will enrich us all.
Here is a message from the publisher of Sounding Brass/Brass International, M. Trevor Austin:
First the bad news. Because of the recession in the U.K. and the increasing subsidy that has to be provided to keep it on the street, Brass International will cease publication with effect from the 3rd (Autumn) edition of Volume 10. We would like to thank all those Editors and administrators who over the years have made the magazine, as both Sounding Brass and Brass International, so loved by devotees.
Now the good news. The interests of Brass International are being merged with BRASS BULLETIN, (the only other brass quarterly) which is published in Switzerland in three languages. Copies outstanding on subscriptions already paid to Brass International will be supplied as BRASS BULLETIN. The Editor of this fine magazine is interested in expanding brass coverage in the English speaking world and the United Kingdom in particular, and we look to our Sounding Brass/Brass International readers to keep him informed and to direct all queries to the Editor, Jean-Pierre Mathez, at BRASS BULLETIN, rue du Moléson 14, CH-1630 Bulle, Switzerland.
Thanks to our loyal readers and thanks to the Directors of Rosehill Instruments for their considerable subsidy which has helped to keep Sounding Brass and Brass International alive until now.
Trevor Austin
Tom Aitken
Tom Aitken is a New Zealander who has lived in England since 1967. His family were all brass band players and as a student he played with the Wellington Citadel and Auckland Congress Hall Salvation Army bands. For the last six years he has been a member of the London Collegiate Brass.
Two years ago he gave up school teaching to become a free-lance writer. Since then he has edited Brass International, written on brass for The Guardian, 3 Magazine, and The British Bandsman, and on theatre for The Times. He contributes a series of profiles of expatriate New Zealanders to The New Zealand Woman's Weekly. He also writes fiction.