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Smith-Watkins exhibit and sponsor the Brass Spectacular

Smith-Watkins play for Kevin Spacey
Three of Smith-Watkins trumpets are being played on the sound track of BEYOND THE SEA, a movie to be released this month, starring and directed by Kevin Spacey. The players in the John Wilson Orchestra are Mike Lovatt, Pat White and Jim Lynch.

Smith-Watkins will exhibit at the upcoming contests

We have moved to Yorkshire
We have moved to YORKSHIRE for more space to expand and to enhance our quality of life. It also happens to be in BrassBandLand! Please telephone before making any visits.

Derek Watkins awarded Hon RAM degree.

Sales of fanfare trumpets increase.
Sets of chromatic fanfare trumpets have been made for The Royal Marines, The Royal Air Force and bands of the Armed Forces. Interest is not only in the UK; the US Army band in Germany are also taking some instruments.

Success of Fanfare and Cornet designs feature in ITG News article.

S-W Trumpets & Cornets at US Open Championships

Full Range of Cornets on Show in London
The full range of Smith-Watkins Cornets will be on show at the National Brass Band Championships. We will have a display in the Elgar room of the Royal Albert Hall on 18th October. Derek Watkins is guest soloist in the Gala Concert in the evening.

Trevor Bremner Leads Cornet Success in Australia
Trevor Bremner has won the Australian Cornet Championship again. Kevin Hickman (from Woolston) was second, and Brian McGuinness from Sydney was 6th. All playing Smith Watkins Cornets

The Royal Marines are the First to Play the Fanfare Trumpets

Press release: Scientists blow their own trumpet

Salvation Army Staff Band Go for Quality!
One of Europe's leading bands, the Amsterdam Staff Band, have chosen Smith-Watkins Cornets after comparing all available instruments.

25th January 2008	S-W wins contracts for military bands Smith-Watkins has won contracts for several sets of fanfare trumpets from the Royal Marines, and for bands of the British and Australian Armies.
1st August 2007	S-W Interchangeable Leadpipe Conversion available for Bach Trumpets John Ravenor has developed a conversion for Bach trumpets that allows their players to take advantage of the unique range of Smith-Watkins interchangeable leadpipes designed by Richard Smith. This then enables the player to modify the musical characteristics of a single trumpet for a particular style or environment. For example, the same S-W trumpet is used by players in both symphony and commercial sectors but with different leadpipes and mouthpiece. See the trumpet section for more details. contact John Ravenor
23rd July 2007	Cornets delivered and presented to the Royal Air Force bands Richard Smith visited the RAF Regiment and College Bands at RAF Cranwell to present the cornets which had been specifically designed for each player after personal consultation. See also 21st March entry for details of the international competition for this contract, overwhelmingly won by Smith-Watkins, and more...
23rd June 2007	'Classical Music' article on Richard Smith The article describes how Richard, as a bassoonist and physicist, became one of the world's leading brass designers and creator of the Smith-Watkins brand. more...
19th June 2007	Herald Fanfare Trumpets presented to the Army in North Yorkshire Herald fanfare instruments were presented to the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band at Catterick Camp in North Yorkshire. This was a colourful event widely reported in the local press. 'A one-man instrument maker in North Yorkshire has won a contract to supply unique ceremonial fanfare trumpets to the Army in Yorkshire.' more...
7th June 2007	Smith gives Research Paper at the ASA meeting in Utah Richard Smith gave a plenary lecture at the June meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Salt Lake City, Utah. Leading the session on the Mysteries and Myths of Musical Instruments, Richard entertained a large audience with theoretical background and fascinating demonstrations.
10th May 2007	MoD-enabling contract gained by Richard Smith (M I) Ltd Five companies won the enabling contract as suppliers of brass instruments and related supplies and services to the UK Ministry of Defence for the next four years. Four of the contractors are wholesale/retailers who have world-wide sources of product, while Smith-Watkins is the only brass manufacturer solely selling their own instruments.
21st March 2007	Smith-Watkins wins Royal Air Force cornet order In a day-long test held at the Royal Air Force HQ in Uxbridge on 21 March, RAF musicians overwhelmingly voted Smith Watkins instruments their first choice, trumping ten rivals from Europe, the USA and Japan. more...
21st February 2007	Smith gives Research Seminar at Durham University Richard has been invited to give a Research Seminar at the Music Department of Durham University. The title is 'Myth-busting in the design of brass instruments'. It will start at 16.15 and local players are welcome to attend.
15th January 2007	Congratulations to Martin Hall Martin has just accepted the principal cornet chair of Drighlington Band. He joins many other principal cornet players in the Championship Section using a Smith-Watkins 'Soloist' Cornet.
1st January 2007	Happy Christmas and Peaceful New Year This year, instead of mailing hundreds of cards to our customers and friends, we have decided to donate a substantial amount to the international charity Medicin sans Frontier. We wish all our customers a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
19th November 2006	Brass in Concert at the Sage, Gateshead The world's leading brass band entertainment contest; presented by BBC Radio 2's Frank Renton. Smith-Watkins will have a display of instruments.
4th November 2006	US Open Brass Band Championships 2006 Smith-Watkins sponsor the prize for the 'Outstanding Soloist'. Smith-Watkins represented by Ron Phillips.
28th October 2006	British Brass Band Championship at the Royal Albert Hall Smith-Watkins represented by Richard Smith
September 2006	New Website Launched
September 2006	New 'Artiste Cornet' In order to maintain the low prices of the Professional 470-K2 Cornet, we have brought out the Artiste Cornet which offers a choice of leadpipes, bore sizes, trim and finish, and an optional security etch of the player's name or Band Insignia as well as the usual high standard of Smith-Watkins build quality.
April 2005	Smith-Watkins exhibit and sponsor the Brass Spectacular We have been very busy this year but will be sponsoring Derek Watkins and the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble at the Brass Spectacular to be held at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music on 24th April.
January 2005	Smith-Watkins is 20!
November 2004	Smith-Watkins play for Kevin Spacey Three of Smith-Watkins trumpets are being played on the sound track of BEYOND THE SEA, a movie to be released this month, starring and directed by Kevin Spacey. The players in the John Wilson Orchestra are Mike Lovatt, Pat White and Jim Lynch.
September 2004	Smith-Watkins will exhibit at the upcoming contests We will be showing our instruments for the first time at the National Brass Band Finals (Harrogate) on the 11th/12th September, and also at Symphony Hall Birmingham for the British Open Competition (18th September).
July 2004	We have moved to Yorkshire We have moved to YORKSHIRE for more space to expand and to enhance our quality of life. It also happens to be in BrassBandLand! Please telephone before making any visits.
May 2004	Derek Watkins awarded Hon RAM degree. It has been announced that Derek will be awarded the honorary degree of the Royal Academy of Music for his services to music. This is possibly a unique award for a player working predominantly in the commercial sector.
April 2004	Sales of fanfare trumpets increase. Sets of chromatic fanfare trumpets have been made for The Royal Marines, The Royal Air Force and bands of the Armed Forces. Interest is not only in the UK; the US Army band in Germany are also taking some instruments.
November 2003	Success of Fanfare and Cornet designs feature in ITG News article. Check it out at www.trumpetguild.org/news/news.htm
November 2003	S-W Trumpets & Cornets at US Open Championships Smith-Watkins will be represented by Ron Phillips at the US Open Brass Band Championships being held at Arlington Hts, Illinois . Cornets, trumpets and flugels will be on show. Further information regarding the Championships is shown at: www.prairiebrass.org
October 2003	Full Range of Cornets on Show in London The full range of Smith-Watkins Cornets will be on show at the National Brass Band Championships. We will have a display in the Elgar room of the Royal Albert Hall on 18th October. Derek Watkins is guest soloist in the Gala Concert in the evening.
April 2003	Trevor Bremner Leads Cornet Success in Australia Trevor Bremner has won the Australian Cornet Championship again. Kevin Hickman (from Woolston) was second, and Brian McGuinness from Sydney was 6th. All playing Smith Watkins Cornets
February 2003	The Royal Marines are the First to Play the Fanfare Trumpets The Band of the Royal Marines will be the first to receive and play the new Smith-Watkins fanfare trumpets. They have purchased two full sets (2 Soprano Eb, 6 Melody Bb, 4 Tenor Bb and 2 Bass Bb/F) and will perform at the Mountbatten Concert in the Royal Albert Hall on 14/15th February. This is the first of several orders for these instrument. Instrument specification is in the Ceremonial & Signalsection.
April 2002	Press release: Scientists blow their own trumpet Joint technical paper published by scientists at the Open University, Edinburgh University and Smith-Watkins: "Distinguishing between similar tubular objects using pulse reflectometry: A study of trumpet and cornet leadpipes" http://physics.iop.org/IOP/Press/PR4302.html
March 2002	Salvation Army Staff Band Go for Quality! One of Europe's leading bands, the Amsterdam Staff Band, have chosen Smith-Watkins Cornets after comparing all available instruments.