James Stretton's first musical instrument was a length of hose pipe with a Kosicup mouthpiece. His enlightened father stating “I’ll buy you a cornet when you make that sound good!”. The seeds of orichalcum – World of Brass had been sown.
James flourished in the Warwickshire County music system culminating in a performance with the county youth orchestra at age 17 of the notorious 2nd Brandenburg Concerto by Bach. He went on to study at Trinity College of Music, London and with James Austin in Houston, Texas.
In a teaching career that spanned 11 years James worked in both the state and private sectors. He left his final post as Head of Instrumental Music at Harrogate Ladies' College in December 2005 to concentrate full time on orichalcum - World of Brass.
Somewhat of a musical chameleon, James enjoys performing professionally in a wide variety of ensembles. He regularly performs with orchestras including the City Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and is a member of the Nick Ross Big Band. Formerly a member of the Black Dyke Brass band he now plays with both the Desford Band and world famous Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
Black Dyke Front Row 2005... James Stretton, Andrew Holmes, Claire Allen, Morvern Gilchrist and Principal Cornet - Roger Webster
www.BlackDykeBand.co.uk
It was whilst demonstrating a G flat major scale on trombone in a lesson that he discovered the highly unusual ability to instantly swap between large and small brass instruments. Several thousands of hours of practice later his brain child orichalcum – World of Brass was ready.