THE JJB Sports Leyland Band has secured £22,000 to help take them into the next Millennium.

The Millennium Festival Award will enable the band to commission Howard Snell to write a piece of music for use in workshops and celebratory performances across England during 2000.

The piece, called'Pictures Of The Millennium, will take the form of a number of musical tableaux, each portraying a picture of brass band heritage.

The commission will be used in workshops where the JJB Sports Leyland Band will work with other brass bands, colleges and schools.

Organisers behind the project hope to raise awareness of the brass band movement and increase their audience in the future.

The music will also be used by other organisations through the Brass Band Heritage Trust.

Band manager Allan Littlemore said: "It will also provide an opportunity for young musicians to develop and extend their skills by playing alongside professional standard musicians.

"A number of chosen locations will receive the music in advance of the workshops for their own rehearsal. Then JJB Sports Leyland Band will work together with bands and musicians in each region in creative workshops, culminating in a celebratory concert at the conclusion of which the band and the young musicians will combine for a public performance."

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