Below can be found a list of the various bands that Craig has worked with over the years. Further information on each can be found by clicking on the links to their individual websites, where available.

Further information on various projects involving some of these bands can be found in the projects section of this site

The Black Dyke Band, formerly the Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best known brass bands in the world. Based in Queensbury, North Yorkshire, the band is one of the most successful brass bands of all time.

Craig was fortunate enough to work with the band in 2002 when they were guest artists at the 2002 Welsh Brass Arts Festival. At the event the band premiered, under Musical Director Nicholas Childs, Professor Edward Gregson's The Sword & the Crown, specially commissioned by Craig for the event. Craig directed the massed bands of Black Dyke and Parc & Dare through Edward Watson's transcription of Walton's Henry V suite, which was narrated on the occasion by Welsh actor Philip Madoc

Craig was also fortunate to perform with the band in concert, under the baton of James Watson, at the Northern Brass Arts Festival, held at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, in the late 1990's.

Further information on Black Dyke can be found at the band's own website www.blackdyke.co.uk

Brighouse & Rastrick is another of the world's most famous and successful brass bands. Craig was fortunate enough to work with Brighouse and conductor David Hirst, when they were guest artists at the 2003 Welsh Brass Arts Festival

At the event the band premiered, under David, Dr Paul Mealor's Rhapsody On A Theme of Purcell, again specially commissioned for the event by Craig. Craig also directed the massed bands through the first performance of Dr Christian Jenkins' arrangement for brass band of John Williams' Olympic Spirit and an epic performance of Edward Gregson's The Sword and the Crown, which Craig had commissioned the previous year.

Further information on Brighouse & Rastrick can be found on the band's own site www.brighouseandrastrickband.com

Burry Port Town Band (Band Pres Porth Tywyn) is a traditional brass band located in Burry Port near Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, UK. Since January 2000, the band has competed in the Championship Section within Wales and across the UK. Burry Port has a busy schedule providing music for a wide variety of events including concerts, functions and local charitable events.

The band has been National Eisteddfod Champions, Champion Band of Wales and represented Wales on a number of occasions at the National Championships of Great Britain at the Royal Albert Hall, London. It has also won the prestigious Senior Cup at the Spring Brass Band Festival in Blackpool, England beating off competition from 20 of the UK’s finest bands.

The band has also been joined in concert on various occasions by an impressive list of soloists including Burry Port's own West End Star John Owen Jones, opera divas Shan Cothi and Claire Hammacott, and many other famous names from the stage and screen.

Craig took up the position of Musical Director with Burry Port in the summer of 2008. In 2008/09 the band undertook several performances of The Planets, an innovative concert project created in partnership by Craig, Professor Mark Brake and arts professional Judi Hughes. In the summer of 2009 it then hit the headlines in the UK and world media, undertaking their first international appearance by participating in the World Military Music Festival, held in Tripoli, Libya. 16 nations from 5 continents (Algeria, Australia, Austria, Egypt, France, Italy, Kenya, Libya, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, Tunisia, UK) were represented in the Festival, and Burry Port performed as part of the world class cast of military and civilian performers that assembled, and comprised of brass & military bands, medieval flagwavers (Sbandieratori Italia), pipe bands and dancers (the Waza Afrika Kenyan Dancers; Russian State Ballet Company and Nalmes State Academic Dance Company).

Under Craig's baton Burry Port also undertook their first major commission in 2010, Andrew Powell & Menna Elfyn's 'Y Dyn Unig', a cantata on a Welsh theme for tenor soloist, harp, mixed chorus, children's choir and brass band, which the band premiered at the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen as part of the 2010 arts project The Red Lady of Paviland, further information on which can be found in the projects section of this site.

Under Craig's leadership Burry Port were also successful in competition, winning the 2008 WWBBA Championships, becoming the overall 2009 Welsh League Champions, and qualifying for the prestigious Grand Shield contest at the 2010 Senior Cup.

Further information on Burry Port Town Band can be found at their website www.burryporttownband.co.uk

The Band of the Ceremonial Guard is part of the Canadian Forces Primary Reserves. It forms each year for the purpose of providing musical support for the world famous Changing the Guard ceremony on Parliament Hill - Ottawa. During this period the band is also tasked with supporting official functions held at Rideau Hall, foreign embassies, and other sites around the national capital region.

Distinctive in the scarlet uniform and bearskin headdress, the Band of the Ceremonial Guard attracts huge crowds wherever it performs. The band provides an excellent summer employment opportunity for music students to experience life in the Canadian Forces. Selected candidates are not only excellent musicians, but also fine ambassadors of the Canadian people.

This military band has been given many awards and is considered the top military marching band in the country. In 1997, the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority, in recognition of the Ceremonial Guards long association with the City of Ottawa, acknowledged the Ceremonial Guard as the most prominent tourist attraction in the Nation's capital.

The Band of the Ceremonial Guard also participates in the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in 2008 the Band participated in Oslo, Norway as part of HM King Harald V Kings Guard Inspection and the Norwegian Changing of the Guard along with numerous concerts in Oslo.

Craig has worked with the Ceremonial Guard on many occasions, dating back to 1998, at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, and also between 2007 & 2010 on their own large scale production, the Canadian beating Retreat Fortissimo, further information on which can be found in the projects sections of this site.

The Cory Band hails from the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, where they were formed in 1884. The band has enjoyed an illustrious record since that time, noted highlights being 1980, when the band became European Champions, and, in their centenary year of 1984, when they won the third in a hat-trick of National Championship titles at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

In 2000 the band appointed Dr. Robert Childs as their Musical Director and has since enjoyed new levels of success. During the millennium year they won both the British Open and National Brass Band Championships, taking the British Open shield home to Wales for the first time in the contest’s 148-year history. They won the Open again in 2002, and also 2007. In 2008, Cory then won the European Championships in Stavanger, Norway, and retained the title in Ostende, Belgium the following year, and also in 2009 winning the World Championships in Kerkade, Holland.

The band has also enjoyed huge success on the concert platform, and is a keen champion of new music for brass.

Craig has worked with the band on a number of occasions, most notably in 2003, directing them in London for the Golden Jubilee celebrations and procession of the Coronation Coach of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Further information on Cory and its activities can be found at its website www.coryband.com

Eagley Band was formed in the winter of 1850, initially as the Eagley Sunday School Band, attached to the Eagley Mills, a group of textile mills sited to the north of Bolton, Lancashire.

The band entered their first contest in 1885 held at Kearsley Moor and managed to win third prize (and the princely sum of £6) under their conductor Edwin Swift. Swift, along with John Gladney and Alexander Owen, was one of the "Great Triumvirate", a trio of conductors who played a very important role in the development of bands and band music. Swift was also the man who introduced music of Wagner to brass bands. Despite being in great demand with other ensembles, Swift continued to direct Eagley until his death in 1904.

The first surviving photograph of the Band was taken in 1898 and depicts the members in ordinary suits and "billy cock hats", the first uniform being purchased in 1905. The Band continued to enter competitions and with the dedication of its members became one if the premier bands in the country, notable successes included appearances as far a field as Kirkcaldy and also the famous Belle Vue contest (now known as The Grand Shield and British Open Championships).

The dawning of the First World War reduced the Bands activities to virtually nothing with many musicians leaving for the front line, and yet Eagley was fortunate with a fresh pool of talent to draw on from the mills. It was not until late 1919 that the Band resumed playing in full, the only contribution during the War being a lone member who performed the Last Post daily at a memorial service to the fallen. The Second World War also took it's toll on proceedings, although a Youth Band was formed during this time ensuring the continuation of the Band. The local newspaper reported on their first concert held in the mills in 1945.

Contest success followed the Wars, which in turn led to Radio broadcasts and in 1956 a television appearance, quite an achievement at that time, the medium still being in its infancy. By this time, Eagley were under the leadership of Ernest Appleyard, a Bolton man who has distinguished himself in the army and many of the great bands of the time, under such men as Sir Adrian Boult, and Harry Mortimer OBE.

1971 brought grave news for the Band, Eagley Mills were to close bringing the 120 year old association with the Band to an end. Until this time the mills had provided rehearsal facilities within the complex and also the Band instruments. Ownership of the instruments was generously transferred to the Band and yet it still found itself without a bandroom or financial backing. Despite this the Band continued to be successful, thanks in part to the support of local schools, most notably Thornleigh College from whom a nucleus of players joined in the early seventies, some of whom are still in the Band today.

Particular success in recent times include two appearances at the national finals at the Royal Albert Hall, a hat trick of wins in the 1999 contest season with victories at Blackburn, Morecambe and Fleetwood contests and promotion to the First Section under the baton of Craig Roberts. Craig was Musical Director of the band from 1997 to 2001.

Further information on the band can be found at their website www.eagleyband.co.uk

The oldest of all the bands of the British Army, the history of The Band of the Grenadier Guards records the entire development of military music. From its formation, the Regiment marched to the then usual accompaniment of drums and fife. In 1685 Charles II authorised the maintenance of 12 Hautbois (an early wind instrument) and this is considered to be the beginning of the band as a distinct entity. Indeed, so significant was the King's death for the musicians of the Grenadier Guards that from his passing until the Second World War, the bass drummer of the band wore a black armband of mourning.

From the foundation of the band until some time in the 19th Century, the musicians numbered between twelve and nineteen, the make up being 'one man from each company'. By 1844, this had been expanded to several musicians per company, with thirty-eight in the band by 1848. Numbers reached their peak at the end of the 1970s reaching sixty musicians. Today, the operational strength of the band is forty-nine.

Though the height of tradition, the band has adapted itself over three centuries to contemporary tastes from Bach and Handel to Wagner and Schumann, through the era of the music hall and the Jazz Age to the modern wind band music of Martin Ellerby and Phillip Sparke.

The instruments of the band have changed accordingly. French Horns first joined the band in 1725 and by 1794 the band consisted of one flute, six clarinets, three bassoons, three horns, one trumpet, bass drum, cymbals and tambourine. It was to a similar baroque ensemble that Handel presented the march 'Scipio', before the premier of his opera of the same name in 1726. The march can still be heard accompanying the Grenadier Guards at every Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Instruments such as the euphonium, flugel horn and saxophone were introduced as they came to prominence in the wider musical world, until by 1859 the band existed in similar form to that in which we see it today.

Just as the band's music has been a constant through 300 years of British History, so has its military role. It was not until the 1890s that the musicians were taken out of their battalions where they lived and worked with the regular soldiers and joined the staff of the regiment. Their position then and today was accurately described by George IV (talking about the band in 1803):"These men are to be drilled in their exercise and in case of actual service are to fall in with their companies completely armed and accoutered".

The band has served alongside the Regiment in conflicts throughout modern histories, playing in triumph in Paris in 1815 after Waterloo, when the first Regiment of Foot became the 'Grenadier Guards', and gained the now world-famous bearskins after capturing them from Napoleon's Imperial Guard. Today the band, when mobilised, operates with the Army Medical Services in a chemical decontamination role.

Today's band plays at the whole range of State & Ceremonial occasions including:

Changing of the Guard
State visits
Investitures
Banquets

and with the massed bands at the

Trooping of the Colour
Remembrance Sunday Parade

They also represent Britain and the Crown on innumerable other occasions.

Craig worked with the Band and then Director of Music Major Denis Burton on the 2006 project VE Day 60. Further information on the Band of the Grenadier Guards can be found on their website at http://www.army.mod.uk/music/corps-band/454.aspx

The Leyland Band was established in 1946 in the heart of industrial Lancashire as the Leyland Motors Band, taking its name from the world famous truck and bus company. Now an independent group of some thirty musicians, the Band has retained its local connection and now proudly bears the name of its home town.

The last twenty five years of the Band’s existence has been the most consistently successful in its history. After a meteoric rise through the various sections, the Band has witnessed scores of prize awards at all the major competitions in the brass band arena. Leyland Band won the 1994 British Open Championships, the All England Masters in 1989, 1992 and 2003, and the 2005 National Brass Band Championships.

Leyland Band has also rightly earned its reputation as an unrivalled concert entertainer by producing dynamic and unique performances both at home and abroad. Leyland Band has always fostered a strong sense of originality. In 1980, the ensemble was the first western brass band to tour Japan, a country it revisited along with South Korea in the 1990s. In the last decade, four coast to coast tours of the United States of America are testament to the Band’s far-reaching appeal. Numerous performances on continental Europe have been a feature of the band’s work on the concert platform. It has also had great success at the Brass in Concert Championships, having been awarded the Brass in Concert crown on four occasions.

Leyland Band has appeared in numerous television and radio broadcasts, specifically for the Granada Band of the Year, BBC Radio 3 and Listen to the Band. It has an impressive discography and has recorded over 40 commercial CDs.

Craig worked with Leyland, and guest conductor Robert Childs, at the inaugural Welsh Brass Arts Festival in 2001. Craig narrated Howard Snell's Images of the Millennium, performed by the massed bands of Leyland and Parc & Dare under Robert's baton.

Further information on Leyland Band can be found at their own website www.leylandband.co.uk

Northop Band was established in 1892 by a group of young men in Soughton (Sychdyn), North Wales. Within two years they had relocated to nearby Northop a small village a few miles from the town of Mold. Very little is known of the early years as there are no written records but it is known that the bands' first contest success was in 1921 at Flint.

The Band was kept busy playing concerts and contestsever since, gaining many successes. As a result of its success and professional attitude, the band has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the country including the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, St. David's Hall, Cardiff and the Royal Albert Hall, London, also playing in the theatre production of "Brassed Off" in Theatre Clwyd.

As well as the senior band Northop also boasts 2 thriving youth bands who both also regularly compete and perform.

Craig was Musical Director of the band in the early years of the millennium, enjoying considerable success on the concert and contest stage, which included directing the band to two consecutive North Wales Brass Band Championships, performances with soloists Nick Hudson and David Childs, plus a tour to Germany, where the band participated in the 2002 Hamburg Polizei Show.

Further information on Northop Band can be found at its own website www.northopsilverband.com

Founded in 1893, the Parc and Dare Band has long been one of Wales best-known and respected brass bands. Originally formed as the Cwmparc Temperance Drum and Fife Band in 1893, the band went all brass a year later to become the Cwmparc Silver Band. They later began receiving financial support from the Ocean Coal Company (who operated the Parc and the Dare collieries in the Treorchy area),which gave rise to the Parc and Dare Workmen's Silver Band.

Historically, the band’s achievements are legion, including dozens of championship wins, and fourteen victories as Champion Band of Wales. The band can boast over 250 appearances on BBC Radio and television, and performances ranging from small venues to some of the country's most prestigious, the Millennium Stadium, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff; Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and Royal Academy of Music, London included.

Craig was Musical Director of the band for almost a decade, and presided over one of the most successful periods in the band’s history. Under his baton Parc & Dare became Champion First Section Band of Wales in 2004 and 2005, Runner-Up Champion First Section Band of Great Britain, and Champion Band in the Championship Section of the Welsh League. In 2006, under Craig's direction the band also qualified, for the first time in almost twenty years, for the right to represent Wales at the Finals of the National Championships of Great Britain at London’s Royal Albert Hall, following their success at that year's Welsh Regional Championships.

Under Craig’s leadership, between 2001 and 2008, Parc & Dare also became renowned for its unique and innovative artistic outlook and programming. The band toured the groundbreaking musical arts projects Brass Tracks, Electric Brass, World Dances, Carbon 12 and The Planets, and performed alongside numerous leading artists which included the Band of Her Majesty’s Grenadier Guards, the Russian Cossack State Dance Company, Royal Harpist Catrin Finch, trumpet soloist James Watson, “the world’s favourite Phantom” Peter Karrie, plus various other leading soloists, bands and choirs.

Further information on all of the above, and other, projects can be found in the projects section of this site, while further information on the Parc & Dare Band can be found at it's own website www.brassbands.co.uk

The Regimental Band of The Royal Welsh has versatility of style and repertoire, which is both unique and highly popular whether on parade as a marching band, or on the concert platform. Their playing, marching and singing portrays that musical quality for which the Band is renowned throughout Wales. It is also interesting to note that the Band is the last surviving all-brass band left within British Army Military Music.

The Band have travelled abroad extensively, including countries such as Belgium, Germany, Canada, France, and in 2007 toured Australia and performed in the Sydney Opera House. In 2009 they again travelled to Canada to participate in the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.

They have also had the privilege to play on many occasions for the Royal Family, in particular His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, not only in the Principality of Wales, but also in many other parts of the British Isles. A major highlight in 2005 for the Band was to play in front of Her Majesty, The Queen, at the Royal Variety Performance at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

The Band also play at many major sporting events, and their continued presence at the world-famous Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has been greatly appreciated by rugby spectators across the world.

On many of their engagements the Band is enhanced by the presence of The Corps of Drums of The Royal Welsh who, with their own inimitable style and expertise, add the final polish to any engagement.

Craig was instrumental in securing the band's participation in the 2009 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo and also provided the voiceovers for their performance in the show, a video clip of which can be found here

Further information on the Regimental Band and Corps of Drums of the Royal Welsh can be found at their own website www.royalwelshband.com

Treherbert & District is a community band based in South Wales' Rhondda valley. Historians believe it was originally the Treherbert Drum and Fife Band, in existence around 1897, which was the forerunner to today's band. It was however the brass band set up by the miners of the Glenrhondda Colliery which really put Treherbert on South Wales' musical map. 

Glenrhondda was opened in 1911 by the Glenavon Garw Collieries Limited, a member of the South Wales Coal Owners association, and was served by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay railway. It consisted of two levels a slant and a pit and during its lifetime employed anywhere between 200 and 500 men, producing both house and manufacturing coals.

After nationalisation the colliery was placed in the National Coal Boards' South Western division's, No.3 Area, Group 4 and at that time No.1 and 2 pits had a combined manpower of over 450 men, whilst the No.2 level employed approximately 70 men. The no.2 level had closed by 1954 and the colliery as a whole was closed by the National Coal Board in 1966

Following the closure of the colliery, the band continued but was renamed the Upper Rhondda Band. It later changed its name to Treherbert & District Silver Band, Treherbert Band, and now finally to Treherbert & District Band.

Over the years the band has enjoyed many successes at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the Mineworkers Open, the National Championships of Great Britain and the Welsh Regional Championships. During the 1990's the band gained promotion from fourth section right through to the elite Championship Section under the baton of Graham Shepherd, becoming Welsh League Champions in 2002 and Welsh Regional Champions in 2003.

Under Craig's direction the band became Runner Up Welsh Regional Champions in 2007 & 2011, also representing Wales at the Finals of the National Championships of Great Britain in Harrogate and Cheltenham. The band also became Runner Up South Wales Miner's Eisteddfod Champions and National Eisteddfod Champions in 2011.

Treherbert & District continue to maintain a firm commitment to training young people in the art of brass playing, and supporting events and the community in its local area. Further information on the band and its activities can be found at its own website www.treherbertband.weebly.com

The Woods Manufacturing Company Brass Band was set up in 1997 by Guthrie Woods. The band first appeared at the Nova Scotia International Tattoo later that year and then continued to perform in concerts and large scale performances across Canada and North America under the baton of Dave Druce.

Craig became Director of the band in 2000 and under his baton the band then performed at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo (2000-2003), the Virginia International Tattoo (2001/2002) - also accompanying there the Lochiel Drill Team from New Zealand - and the Netherlands Nationale Taptoe (2002) - also accompanying there the National Ceremonial Troop of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The Woods Band also undertook two CD recordings with Craig, Thine Be the Glory (featuring soloist David Childs, Dowlais Male Choir and John Cynan Jones, organ) and All Through the Night (featuring soloist Jenny Jones, Pontypridd Male Choir & Jonathan Gulliford, organ), both of which are available from www.guthriewoods.com