There's a big brass scene in the UK, especially in areas where there are or used to be collieries.
In fact one of my late relatives was the chairman of the brass band association in Scotland.

If you've never seen, there was a great movie produced in the 1980s starring Ewen McGregor and peter Postlewaite related to the UK brass band scene. It's called 'Brassed Off'......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassed_Off