''Banding together'' : power, identity and interaction within the concert and contest performance contexts of the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band.

The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band has played an important role in local, national and international activities since its inception as an all-brass instrument ensemble in 1881. During its existence the band has established a concert tradition that has both consistently attained critical acclaim and achieved every competitive award available. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the position, status and relationships of individual band members in relation to the principal performance contexts in which they partake. In the opening chapter I introduce my own personal experience of brass banding, discuss existing literature on the subject and provide a discussion of my dual role as both ethnomusicologist and player. Having established this role I then offer a general historical account of the brass band (Chapter 2), including its changing instrumentation, before presenting a detailed account of the origins and subsequent activities of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band. In Chapter 3 my study turns from the presentation of historical data to the construction and maintenance of the brass band as a field where tension and conflict occur over the accumulation of specific types of performance capital, resulting in a hierarchical division of labour. Both of the chapters that follow (Chapters 4 and 5) involve the description and discussion of processes involved in the concert and contest contexts, highlighting similarities and differences that shape the perceptions of all involved. Finally, in the concluding chapter I explain the importance of the performance contexts not only in regard to the overall existence of the band but also to the individuals who comprise the band itself.