Down In The Brunner Mine was commissioned by the Onslow Brass Band in Wellington, New Zealand, and first performed and broadcast in 1996.

It is a short set of variations based on a New Zealand folksong called Down in the Brunner Mine.  The folksong describes the Brunner coal mine on the west coast near Greymouth and tells of the disaster that happened there in the 1890's when about 60 men were killed in a mine collapse.  Here is the first stanza:

Down In The Brunner Mine is dedicated to Helen Aldred, who conducted the first performance.