The Oxford University Big Band 
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The Oxford University Big Band, OUBB, is Oxford University's premier jazz ensemble. Like all the official music ensembles of the University it is run under the auspices of the Oxford University Music Society. The band was founded in 1961 by Bill Ashton MBE, who went on to found the UK's renowned Nation Youth Jazz Orchestra. After many years in hiatus, the band was re-formed in 2005 in response to the growing demand for a top-flight university jazz ensemble. The group is both a rehearsal band and a working big band. It entertains at innumerable balls and private functions in the UK and beyond, bears the distinction of being the only big band to perform concerts in Oxford's prestigious Sheldonian Theatre, and annually records and tours overseas. Boasting a surplus of dedicated, energetic and talented young student musicians, the band has once again cemented itself as the flagship jazz ensemble of the University. The OUBB is unique among big bands in the UK in that it performs overseas annually. Since its re-formation in 2005, the band has performed in Barcelona (2006), Delhi and Mumbai (2007) and the world famous Montreux Jazz Festival (2008). In 2009 the band along with Mark Armstrong performed the Solstice Suite at the international North Sea Jazz Festival, a feat unmatched by any other big band of its kind in the country. This year (2010) the OUBB toured to China to perform as part of the Shanghai World Music Expo. The OUBB is available for private function hire with special rates available to colleges and societies of the University. The band is flexible and always able to tailor its performance to the specific requirements of your engagement. OUBB provides all its own equipment and requires only access to power, a dozen chairs and a secure green room for performances. The band will play for any duration of time but does not provide smaller ensembles, except where the whole OUBB is booked to perform and preceded by a smaller ensemble drawn from the band. For band enquiries, please contact Oliver Montague the OUBB Musical Director, at oubb@oums.org.
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