" ... a varied programme of popular pieces... some interesting pieces... showing the whole spectrum of music-making from simple arrangements to more challenging and bespoke works... well performed... with some nice characterisation from the players.
The programme was nicely introduced by the players with an obvious passion for the music and for their connections to the locality... a colourful end to the season... an entertaining evening"
Phillip Cooke for Inverurie Music, April 2026
"...a real treat... so varied and very enjoyable. Many of the audience commented after the concert how enjoyable it had been. All members of the group engaged at different levels and in different ways with the audience which made the whole concert a pleasure to be part of. I loved the final short piece because it seemed so apt - Brass Tracks certainly did “Spread a little happiness” in Dumfries on Sunday. We even tracked down two visitors from Switzerland who were very complimentary about the Four Swiss Tunes!"
Kate Howatson, Concerts Secretary, Music in Dumfries, March 2026
"... a band of highly accomplished musicians...
Engaging the young minds with a mixture of thrilling performances and interactive activities, Brass Tracks left a mark on the students, stimulating their curiosity and passion for music.
One headteacher echoed the sentiment of many, sharing: "the children were mesmerised within minutes and thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I am not sure who was more excited when they got back to school the staff or children!
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Westmorland Gazette, May 2024
"A wonderful day. The schools workshop was perfect – about 150 pupils aged 7 to 11 from 6 local schools. The best turnout we’ve had and it was a joy to see them always engaging and interacting. It will have been enduringly memorable for them.
The evening concert was excellent too with a great programme which we all enjoyed enormously – some great characters there! "
Ron Ward, Grange over Sands, May 2024
"... a smashing recital at St. Michael’s ... everyone enjoyed every minute of it.... a fantastic quintet and the chemistry you enjoy together is warmly felt by your audiences. The programme was beautifully crafted and there was so much to like: the Bach fugue, the Handel and RVW suite, and the two medleys — it was all quite joyous.....thanks to you all for a really delightful occasion."
Stuart Montgomery, St Michael's concerts, Edinburgh, 2023
"Brass Tracks, the five-strong group performing their take on movie and theatre soundtracks, is celebrating its tenth anniversary of live performances this year. This shows in the ease they have in playing together and the comfortable banter with the audience....what Brass Tracks manage to do is bring the power and fullness of the melody into their arrangements, showing the glorious majesty of the pieces.
From the opening number, a mishmash of Star Wars, ET and Superman so seamless a listener might struggle to pinpoint the changes from one to another, to a rousing romp through Fiddler on the Roof tunes led with gusto by John Sampson, to Disney classics such A Friend Like Me from Aladdin and The Bear Necessities from The Jungle Book, there are tunes for everyone. Particularly haunting is a new arrangement by Robert Newth of Billie Eilish’s No Time to Die, from the most recent Bond film. Each member of the quintet has something unique to bring to the music however.
What is so wonderful about this quintet is the strength they bring to the quality of sound with their particular blend of instruments, filling the air with an emotional charge of memories, that makes the audience want to go and watch a favourite movie or show. If you can catch them when they next play, you will not be sorry!"
4* review, Angela Milton, Edinburgh Guide, 7 August 2023
"…it was a most successful evening with Brass Tracks. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the journey through ‘500 years’ of music. Each piece played was informatively and entertainingly introduced by the members of the group. The audience loved the “something for everyone” programme. There were 3 young school pupils there, all of whom are learning a brass instrument, and members of the group spoke to them in the course of the evening which was lovely and the children had a great time. Everyone left with a smile on their faces! Brass Tracks love what they do and that communicated itself to the audience. It was a most enjoyable and uplifting evening!"
Margaret McCrorie, Music in West Kilbride, January 2020
"Brass Tracks delight....
five very talented professional musicians who, apart from excelling in their own instruments, play as one when they are together..... a delightful variety of music....
the quintet handled all these different styles with sensitivity, and proved themselves more than equal to the task.... long, flowing melodic lines with beauty, while maintaining clarity in the complex contrapuntal whole.....
wonderfully clear, rhythmic articulations and assured ensemble playing.....sense of fun showed through ....had the audience spellbound by the virtuosity of trumpeter John Sampson, .....Robert Newth’s talent for arranging was also displayed in his own version of Amazing Grace. This, in its haunting beauty, did indeed bring out the spiritual element contained in the words....
versatile quintet ....each member of the group performed .... superbly, producing some beautiful warm sounds from French horn, trombone and tuba and bright sounds from the trumpets..... obviously comfortable in any style.
This most enjoyable and entertaining evening was rounded off with an encore of ‘Spread a Little Happiness’ by Vivian Ellis. Indeed they did – more than a little! "
Isle of Arran Music Society , October 2016
"an accomplished and enjoyable recital....Handling the contrasting styles of Gabrieli, Vaughan Williams, Gershwin, Piazzolla, the Beatles and Henry Mancini is no easy challenge, but Brass Tracks made a considerable impression on the 100-plus audience through excellent technique and close attention to stylistic detail. The informal but appropriate presentation by members of the group further contributed to an excellent evening's brass entertainment from a quintet well worth seeking out"
Kenneth Crookston, the British Bandsman September 2017
"Brass Tracks held before us "a kaleidoscopic musical brass journey spanning the last 500 years" – and they certainly delivered on their promise..... a thoroughly enjoyable performance, that took us to different eras and across different landscapes..... very family-friendly, and a particularly nice touch was the performers’ acknowledgement and interaction with the children.
Good humour flowed throughout the evening, and ensured a comfortable and easy atmosphere..... Each item was helpfully introduced, often with accompanying humorous anecdotes. The repertoire of pieces was incredibly wide-ranging.... An upbeat feel was always maintained...."
Edinburgh Guide Review August 2018 – Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Brass Tracks / brass quintet
Please contact daisy@classicalmusiciansscotland.com for more information or to book Brass Tracks.
Brass Tracks is one of Scotland’s most exciting and engaging brass quintets. Based across central Scotland, Brass Tracks is dedicated to making all music accessible, whether it be 500 years old or something a little more contemporary. Brass Tracks is committed to inspiring and reaching new audiences no matter how young or old, and excel at presenting education workshops.
Brass Tracks was formed in 2013 by Edinburgh trumpet players, Finlay Hetherington and John Sampson. The core members come from varied performing backgrounds including television, theatre, orchestral, chamber music, education and brass bands. Since Brass Tracks formed, it has performed in the usual conventional performing spaces, such as churches, cathedrals, concert halls and theatres. However, Brass Tracks also enjoy playing in various less obvious performance venues and locations. This includes Virgin Trains’ ‘Live at Central’ concert series at Glasgow’s iconic Central Station, leading the ceremony for Fife Sports Awards, launching Christmas at Gateshead’s Metrocentre, to being on a film set. In recent times, Brass Tracks have expanded to become a sextet or as an octet for special concerts, collaborating with a number of established choirs based throughout Scotland.
Brass Tracks have also featured in a number of live and studio recordings, from BBC One’s prime-time crime drama, Rillington Place with Hollywood’s Tim Roth and Samantha Morton to an album by the prog rock artist, Fish (the former front man of the British rock band Marillion). Brass Tracks have performed successful concerts at music societies across Scotland including Aberfoyle, Ayr, Bute, Dunfermline, Hawick, Lamlash, Newton Stewart, Oban, Stranraer, Torphichen and West Kilbride. Every year Brass Tracks look forward to several exciting projects and performances in venues ancient to modern.
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Finlay Hetherington / trumpet
Finlay trained at both Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music studying trumpet under the world-renowned John Miller and the late John McMurray. In 2005 Finlay completed a postgraduate degree in music education at Edinburgh University and has since worked as a musician and educator across the UK, Far East and USA. He has composed and arranged numerous works for solo trumpet and brass ensemble, including providing additional music for an award-winning feature film soundtrack, producing music for BBC education at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, arranging music for BBC One’s Rillington Place, performed on Channel 4’s Random Acts as well as played trumpet in a Bollywood film. He has been commissioned to write several bespoke fanfares, including celebrating the switching on of Edinburgh’s West End Christmas lights and a centenary birthday in Iowa, USA.
Finlay is dedicated to music education and holds a Master of Education in the Performing Arts from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is a Teaching Fellow for Higher Education. He has extensive experience coaching groups and was the first musical director for the Edinburgh Military Wives’ Choir, worked at St Mary’s Music School as a trumpet and brass chamber music tutor and a brass teacher in several Edinburgh City Schools. Finlay is currently a lecturer in music for Edinburgh College and Kingston University. Since 2024 he has been Head of Instrumental Music for the Scottish Borders.
John Sampson / trumpet
John studied at Napier College in the 1970s and has two diplomas in trumpet. As a freelance player his television credits include six series of ‘Rab C Nesbitt’, ‘The Baldy Man’, ‘The Big Picnic’, ‘Border Warfare’, ‘John Brown’s Body, ‘The Satire of the Fourth Estaite’ and the South Bank Show. He was composer and musical director on numerous BBC radio plays including the five episode adaptation of the Bride of Lammermuir . He has performed in nearly every theatre in Scotland from Wick to Berwick and been Musical director at the Edinburgh Lyceum, Traverse theatre, Wildcat theatre and Lung Ha theatre. He has also completed more than thirty tours of Europe from 1985 – 2000 with ‘Scarlatti’s Birthday Party’ performing in many top concert halls and theatres. As a session player he has performed across many different genres from folk music to reggae and is a member of the Royal Society of Musicians. For the last 20 years he has collaborated with the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, and toured extensively in the UK and also in UAE, Europe, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
Fiona McLean-Williamson/ trombone
Born in Edinburgh, Fiona began playing the trombone at the age of 12. After leaving school, she gained 2 teaching diplomas from the London College of Music while studying at Stevenson College in Edinburgh. Fiona graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a BMus Honours Degree on tenor and alto trombone, then completed a MMus on bass trombone and became a Guildhall Artist by undertaking a Masters in Musical Performance while her brass quintet ‘Brass Spectrum’ studied as ensemble in residence. Fiona’s freelance work spans from early music through jazz, including orchestral, theatre and soul band work. Since returning to Edinburgh in 2011 Fiona maintains a busy freelance career while having a keen interest in orchestration and arranging. She has a particular passion for chamber music and is the founder of Castle Brass – a large chamber brass ensemble based in Edinburgh. Fiona currently works as a brass instructor for the City of Edinburgh Council and is the trombone specialist for Napier University and Edinburgh College.
Robert Newth/ french horn
Robert graduated with an MMus from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2018, where he won apprenticeship schemes with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. These have led to regular freelance work with both the BBCSSO and the RSNO. A keen chamber musician, Robert is the horn player for wind quintet Prismatic Winds, who recently became Live Music Now! artists. He was a guest performer on rock band Mogwai’s most recent album, and has extensive musical theatre experience including credits in London’s West End, UK tours, the Edinburgh Fringe, and for the National Theatre of Scotland. Robert also works as an organist, a sound designer and is an award-winning screen composer.
Robert Fraser / tuba
Originally from Penicuik south of Edinburgh, Robert started playing a brass instrument at the age of 12. In 2003 Robert Studied at Stevenson College Edinburgh before going on to gain a Bachelor of Education in Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since graduating in 2008 he has held posts as a Brass instructor in Glasgow, Aberdeenshire, West Lothian, South Lanarkshire and Clackmannanshire Councils. He is now a classroom music teacher at Alva Academy in Clackmannanshire Council. As a conductor Robert has directed many ensembles in his career including Whitburn Heartlands to the 4th section Scottish Championship title in 2015 and then on to conduct the same band at the National finals later that year. As a tuba player Robert has played with Whitburn Band since January 2004 where he has played at the National finals at the Royal Albert Hall London more than twenty times. He has also performed around the world including Amsterdam, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan and Sweden. Robert joined Brass Tracks in the summer of 2015.
Performances
7.30pm, Thursday 29 October 2026: Eastgate Theatre, Peebles
7.30pm, Friday 12 March 2027: Music in West Kilbride
7.30pm, Saturday 11 April 2026: Inverurie Music
2.30pm, Sunday, 29 March 2026: Music in Dumfries
2.30pm, Thursday 3 April 2025: Ross Priory
6.30pm, Monday 12 August 2024: St Marks Artspace, Edinburgh
Friday 3 May 2024, afternoon educational workshop, evening concert, Grange-over-Sands
1pm, Friday 5 April 2024, Stockbridge Music Hub, 7b Saxe Coburg Street, EH3 5HT
7.30pm – 8.30pm, Thursday 24 August 2023: St Michael’s Kirk, Slateford, Edinburgh EH1 1NX
6.30pm – 7.30pm, Monday 7 August 2023: ArtSpace@StMark’s, 7 Castle Terrace, £12/£10
3pm, Sunday 21 August 2022, Music in Aberfoyle
6.30pm, Monday 8 August 2022: Edinburgh Festival Fringe, St Marks Artspace
7.30pm, Saturday 21 May 2022, Music Arran (rescheduled from 20 February 2021)
3pm, Sunday 24 April 2022, Lochaber Music for All (rescheduled from 3/10/2021, 28/03/2021, 29/03/2020)
7.30pm, Friday 25 March 2022, Bute Arts Society, (rescheduled from 27 March 2021)
7.30pm, Saturday 4 December 2021, Ayr Music Club (rescheduled from 5 December 2020)
7.30pm, Friday 17 January 2020, West Kilbride
Wednesday 28 August 2019, St Wilfrid’s Church, Kirkharle
6.30pm, Monday 13 August 2018, St Mark’s, Edinburgh
7pm, Saturday 21 April 2018, Hawick Tower Mill Theatre
7.30pm, Tuesday 20 March 2018, Corran Halls, Oban (guests of Oban Bach Choir and Orchestra)
7.30pm, Sunday 18 March 2018, St Mary’s Parish Church, Haddington (guests of the Garleton Singers)
7.30pm, Saturday 17 March 2018, St Cuthbert’s Church, Edinburgh (guests of the Garleton Singers)
Saturday 9 December 2017, 45 Commando Royal Marine’s Christmas Ball, in Arbroath
Sunday, 3 December 2017 with Edinburgh Bach Choir.
8.30pm – 9.30pm, Wednesday 9 August 2017, St Mark’s Edinburgh
1:10pm – 2pm, Thursday 3 August 2017, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
7pm, Sunday 30 April 2017, Torphichen Summer Nights
7:30pm, Sunday 19 March 2017, Newton Stewart Cinema Theatre
7:30pm, Sunday 12 March 2017, Dunfermline Arts Guild, Carnegie Hall Annexe
7:30pm, Saturday 15 October 2016, Isle of Arran Music Society
12 noon – 1pm, Thursday 13 October 2016, Greyfriars’ Kirk, Edinburgh
1:10pm – 2pm, Thursday 25 August 2016, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh
9 – 10pm, Friday 20 May 2016, Ross Priory, Gartocharn
7.30pm, Friday 6 November 2015, Stranraer Ryan Centre
1pm, Saturday, 2 May 2015, Renfield St Stephen’s , Glasgow
