SCISSETT Youth Band is to take part in a unique London 2012 Olympic Games project tomorrow evening.

The top youth band will form part of the Cultural Olympiad, which involves more than 7,000 brass band musicians from all over the UK and the world.

Called Brass the Baton, the games-inspired project will take the form of a giant relay race with five conductor’s batons, each one representing an Olympic ring.

It started at the prestigious European Brass Band Championships on May 6, but Scissett Youth Band will be the first in the UK to pass the baton this weekend.

Mike Brown, from Scissett Youth Band, said: “We’re the first to be passing the baton this Saturday but we didn’t receive it until last night.

“We are passing it on to the Lincolnshire Silver Sound Band and our treasurer, Nigel Armstrong, will be cycling 72 miles to pass it on.”

The relay race will last for 11 weeks, providing 385 potential performance days when each band taking part will be encouraged to find the most innovative way of performing with, and passing on, one of the batons.

Brass the Baton is being organised by the British Federation of Brass Bands and has been awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark.

Scissett, which has 26 players aged from eight to 18, will perform with the baton designated for youth or training bands tomorrow.

Their performance will include a section from new music commissioned from Paul Lovatt-Cooper entitled Going the Distance. The world premiere performance of the complete piece will be heard at the project finale.

The Scissett musicians will be Going The Distance for the project at their summer concert tomorrow in Shelley Emmanuel Church, Huddersfield Road, Shelley. It starts at 7.30pm.

They’ll be joined on stage by Cawthorne Brass Band.

Tickets are £5 (concessions £3.50) which includes a programme and refreshments.