In August 2006 Nick Sharpe arrived in New Zealand in conjunction with the Nelson City Brass Band to create the Nelson Brass Academy, a music school offering affordable brass lessons to anyone wanting to learn a brass instrument. There are now over 110 brass students associated with the Academy, with Academy pupils located as far away as LakeRotoiti in the Nelson Lakes.

There are 3 ensembles in the Nelson Brass Academy, the Junior Brass Band, which pupils are eligible to join after only 5 lessons, the Yourh Brass Band for those who have been playing around 3 years, and a satellite ensemble based in St Arnaud, known as the Rotoiti Band, which has a broad range of abilities.


Every year, all bands perform in a variety of different settings, giving one formal concert per term and also less formal performances in the Nelson area. A very popular event is the Junior Brass Band schools tour where, on the last Tuesday of November every year, the band performs to three Primary schools in the region in one day.