This year’s Music Teacher Magazine Editor’s Award at the Music and Drama Education Awards 2025 has been awarded to BBE.
The Music and Drama Education Awards (MDEA) celebrate the extraordinary contribution made by professionals, schools, companies, charities and other organisations to the lives of others through the medium of these two key performing arts. They recognise individuals, schools, and organisations that have made a significant impact in these fields, showcasing excellence in teaching, innovation, and leadership.
Awards are given in a number of categories, with the majority shortlisted by a panel of industry experts. In this case, the award has been granted to BBE by the Editor of Music Teacher Magazine, Phil Croydon.
When presenting the Award, Phil shared the following: "I'm giving this Award to a charity and its staff for the outstanding work they've given in supporting communities, preserving our musical heritage, and supporting instrumental music teaching in schools. They provide a comprehensive service to the sector, ranging from fundraising and safeguarding advice to organising festivals and training events.
He later continued: “This Award is in recognition of BBE’s outstanding commitment to brass banding in the community and for the collective contribution of Youth Development Brass Specialists in BBE."
BBE’s five Youth Development specialists make up its education programme, Brass Foundations, which has gone from strength to strength since it launched in 2021. It is no stranger to the national MDEA, having been a 2023 finalist in the Outstanding Musical Initiative category during Brass Foundation’s second year.
Members of the Brass Foundations team were pleased to represent the brass banding sector at the Awards night on 30 January in London. BBE’s Deirdre Waller-Box commented: “I’d like to thank Phil and Music Teacher Magazine for recognising BBE’s work in brass education and community banding with this award. This achievement reflects not only the dedication of our team but also the incredible work being undertaken by the community brass bands, music hubs, schools and arts organisations that we have the privilege of partnering with. It is a real honour for BBE to be receiving this award at such an inspiring event, surrounded by so many outstanding contributors in the field of music and drama education.”
Deirdre recently spoke to Phil about BBE's outreach work for the December issue of the Magazine and has just presented at the Music and Drama Education Expo, which ran alongside the awards, leading a workshop on how to prepare an engaging group performance in just one session
You can hear more from Deirdre in Music Teacher Magazine’s February edition, which will include her article "From Sound to Symbol” on her approach to teaching notation in whole class ensembles.