Simon McCullough Music – Composition & Publishing

Simon McCullough’s work in music composition and educational publishing developed through his experience as Musical Director of the Dalton Junior Training Band (2016–2017). During this voluntary role, Simon focused on developing engaging and accessible repertoire for young brass musicians, recognising the challenge many beginner ensembles face when players are at different stages of development. This experience inspired the creation of “Welcome to the Band”, a junior brass band repertoire book developed while Simon returned to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (2017–2018) to complete his honours degree. The book combines popular songs and traditional brass band repertoire arranged specifically for developing ensembles. A key feature of the publication is its three-tier difficulty structure, where each instrumental part is written at three progressive levels. This allows bands with mixed abilities to perform the same piece together while enabling students to gradually progress in confidence and technical ability. The repertoire from the book was later recorded by the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Brass Band, helping to promote the publication and support distribution of Simon’s arrangements through international sheet music platforms including Sheet Music Plus. Simon has continued composing and arranging for brass ensembles, including commissioned works such as “Troika Extravaganza” for the well-known Sovereign Brass Band, as well as the “Crowd Winners March”, written for the 2026 Whit Friday March Contests held annually in Saddleworth, Greater Manchester. Through his composition work, Simon combines his passion for education, performance and musical accessibility, developing repertoire that supports young musicians while celebrating the tradition and excitement of brass band music.