Group 90 wins PJBE Prize at RWCMD
Congratulations to (Brass) Group 90, on winning the 2025 Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Prize earlier this week, performing ‘Scherzo’ by John Cheetham and ‘Escape’ by Kevin McKee. At the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Group 90 won in an extremely strong field of other ensembles who performed so well.
The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (PJBE) Prize commemorates the pioneering work of Philip Jones and aims to perpetuate the traditions of brass chamber music that his internationally acclaimed ensemble established.
2025 would have been Philip Jones’ 97th year and it will be 74 years since Philip started a brass ensemble and 38 years since the PJBE gave its last public performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on 8 June 1986. It took many years until it became accepted that chamber music could be played by brass instruments. Philip Jones was a true pioneer and did not give up although concert engagements for a brass ensemble were few and far between. Gradually the PJBE grew from a quartet to a quintet and then a ten-piece and sometimes to an even larger ensemble depending on the repertoire.
Pictured on stage is Group 90 (Rhys Evans, Tom Evans, George Fearnley, Emily Collet and Patrick Miller) alongside Mrs Ursula Jones.
