The stereotype that brass bands are “working class” and only from Yorkshire has been challenged after figures revealed that the Government spent seven times more on opera than brass bands in recent years.

More than £226 million was spent by the Government and public bodies in Arts Council grants on opera from 2022 to 2025, while £31.5 million of funding went to brass bands in the same period, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) figures show.

Sarah Baumann, programmes and fundraising director at Brass Bands England which supports musicians, told the Press Association: “I think sometimes the public perception of brass bands can be a real challenge in that it is just a working-class pastime or only happens in Yorkshire, which just isn’t true.

“It happens all over the country and for all people and at all levels.”

Ms Baumann, who has called for more brass band funding said: “We want to see more money coming to the brass banding sector and in the pockets of our member brass bands as well.”

The MP who uncovered the figures, Esther McVey, said the disparity showed a “snobbishness” towards brass bands and a “southern and metropolitan bias”.

Ms McVey, MP for Tatton in Cheshire, said: “A fairer proportion of taxpayers’ money should be given to them (brass bands) rather than lavished on subsidising opera in London”.

Some 43% of people in the highest socio-economic groups said they have attended an opera, compared to 23% of lower groups, according to a 2024 survey of 4,012 UK adults by consultancy Public First.

The figures were contained in a written Parliamentary answer in response to Ms McVey who had asked how much the Arts Council has provided in grants for each over the last three years.

Lindley Brass Band playing to the crowds on the main stage. Picture: James Hardisty.

placeholder image — Lindley Brass Band playing to the crowds on the main stage. Picture: James Hardisty.

She said: “The fact that seven times more money was spent on opera rather than brass bands over the last three years shows the southern and metropolitan bias of these funding streams.

“This snobbishness towards brass bands is completely unjustifiable and unacceptable.

“Brass bands are an important part of our heritage and culture, and clearly deserve a better deal.”

The importance of opera has also been brought into question by other high-profile characters such as Oscar-nominated actor Timothee Chalamet, who said “no one cares” about opera or ballet.

Ms Baumann said: “Opera houses have always been funded.”

Asked about the issue of class, she said: “It’s more about the status quo. This is the way it always has been.

“To rectify that balance, really the only way to do that is to take from opera and there’s a lot of vested interest not to do that.”

She added brass bands “are a really significant pipeline to the opera houses”.

“Investment in them is really, really vital if they want players sat in opera houses. So it goes both ways.”

She added increased funding for brass bands “will not hurt the opera houses in the long run because more musicians will be coming through and feeding through to them”.

Ms Baumann said the Arts Council has “always been incredibly supportive of brass banding activity”.

However, she said that with many brass bands being voluntarily run, “it takes an immense amount of work” to apply for funding, “whereas opera companies have paid staff”.

Brass bands hit the mainstream in 1996 when the hit film, Brassed Off, starring Ewan McGregor, told the story of a struggling band in a South Yorkshire mining village which used music from Grimethorpe Colliery Band.

An Arts Council England spokesperson said: “We support a broad range of exceptional creative and cultural activity that caters to the interests of people across the country.

“We know just how much brass banding means to communities in many parts of England, and welcome applications from brass bands themselves as well as from the organisations and individuals who support their development.

“Our regular investment in Brass Bands England enables them to engage more children and young people in the brass banding movement as well as helping them in their work to convene, develop and support the development of the brass bands sector across the country.

“We know that many organisations are currently faced with challenging operating conditions: we are working closely with those funded organisations who are facing financial challenges and being as flexible as we can be to enable them to continue to deliver their important work.”

The Royal Opera House and English National Opera were contacted for comment.