StAMP was founded in 2019 with a clear mission: to reinvigorate the cultural heritage of brass band playing. Over five years — including the challenges of the global, where we were quick to innovate with high‑quality online activity — we taught 1,041 children to play the trumpet through our specially designed Discovering Brass programme, led by musicians from The Wallace Collection. Crucially, we ensured that this first step was only the beginning by connecting young players with their local brass bands, giving them sustained opportunities to continue their musical journeys.
The impact has been transformative. The local brass scene has been revitalised, four new youth bands are now thriving, and community relationships across Fife have been strengthened through shared music‑making and renewed intergenerational engagement.
Our partnership with Action Music Academy in Dar es Salaam extended StAMP’s reach to Africa. After two years of online teaching, the team visited in 2024 to work with young musicians in person, helping them develop their brass skills and strengthening this growing international connection.
The StAMP Brass project is dedicated to the memory of John Wallace, who served as our Honorary Professor of Brass and worked closely with colleagues in the Music Centre to shape and champion the programme. Those of us who had the privilege of working alongside John found him to be utterly extraordinary. He possessed a rare gift: the ability to take a piece of music — or any musical opportunity — and elevate it into something richer, more meaningful, and unmistakably extraordinary. StAMP is one of the many projects that benefited from his vision and passion for music, brass playing and education.
John gave his time with remarkable generosity and without hesitation. He taught one‑to‑one lessons, lectured on Musical Leadership, co‑designed outreach initiatives and concerts, and mentored staff with insight, humility, and kindness. His influence continues to be felt across our community, and StAMP Brass stands as a testament to his artistry, his leadership, and his unwavering belief in the power of music to change lives.
The project’s output was vast. See below for links to the concerts and events we presented, articles and reports written and resources created for brass players.
On 13 November, 2019, Michael Downes, Ellen Thomson, John Wallace and Bede Williams gave a public talk titled ‘Can Music Change Lives? An introduction to StAMP’. Read a paper drawn from this talk here.
Read our StAMP Brass project reports:
- Year one report written by Iona Baillie
- Year two report by Zoe Bremner
- Year three report by Camille Ryder
- StAMP – The First Five Years by Ella Roberts
- Read the StAMP Brass Camp Evaluation Report from the early days of lockdown in 2020
Resources for brass players and teachers:
- Download a comprehensive guide for cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising brass instruments by Denise Crighton-Ward
- Try John Wallace’s Face Fitness exercises
- Download our Discovering Brass Guide Book written by John Miller
- The essential elements on learning and teaching brass are all in this short document: Learn the StAMP Way – Brass Playing Made Simple.
- Read our book review that connects six publications, all of which in their own way underpin our approach of making brass playing simple.
Local brass history:
- St Andrews had an active brass band from 1879-1950. Local tenor horn player Steven Craig has written this history of the St Andrews City Brass Band as part of an ongoing project to document the history of bands in Fife. Anyone interested in the local history of brass bands may also enjoy this blog post by Sean Rippington, Digital Archives Officer at the University, about the Centenary Celebrations of the Tullis Russell Band.
We also We have a range of videos that are constantly being added to.