When did you start playing and why?

12 years of age in the primary school band.Chasing love.

Was Cornet your first choice. If not, was there any other instrument you were interested in?

No, EEb bass.I always wanted to play tenor horn. My grandmother with whom I lived at the time couldn't tolerate the noise I made on the bass, so one day she went out and bought me a second hand cornet:- a Boosey and Hawkes relic.She made me hand the bass back in.

A bit of your playing history?

Chasing the same girl who lured me to the primary school band I joined the local brass band,Toronto Brass.At that time it had the champion A grade junior band and champion C grade senior band in NSW. I fell in love, not with the girl ,whose name I've now forgotten, but the cornet and everything the band was then. It became my family and my passion. The conductor at the time was Dennis Babbage. He was my first real inspiration.
 
When I was about 16 I started work and had more independence.My teacher at that time had left Toronto and joined the only B grade band in Newcastle at the time,Kahibah Bowling Club Brass Band.I followed joining on solo cornet,4th man. Over the next couple of years the band progressed to A grade and me to principal cornet. I met my wife there.
 
Things fell apart a bit as they so often do and after having met Ron Grice who was conducting Waratah at the time and doing really good things I decided to move. That was 1990 and I'm still there with my wife and now our daughter who plays cornet.

Achievements?

I think winning the Australian cornet championship this year after 20 years of trying.
Next I would say playing at the European Championships in 2000 and the Nationals in London in 1999 with Whitburn.

Favourite solo and band piece?

Favourite solo-Prelude and Capriccio by Gregson.
Favourite band piece-anything Bourgeois,but particularly Concerto Grosso.

Favourite band and why?

YBS-because they make music,have a brilliant conductor and expressive soloists.

Favourite recording (not limited to brass).
Right at the moment Reg Vardy-Cool.But I always come back to the YBS Essays series. Sorry I'm a bit of a band nut.
Don't listen to much else. - nothing wrong with that! - bg

Instrument make and mouthpiece?

Yamaha Xeno gold bell,silver plated.
Mouthpiece -David King Signature

Where would you like to take your musical talents in the future?

Eventually I would like to conduct an A grade band but at the moment I want to play the best I can and see my band to
victory in an Australian Championship.I also want to see our C grade band develop and bring mouth youth to our band.

Any future performances that you are excited about?

None more than usual, maybe our 2nd band's first contest in C grade.

Do you teach? If so why do you enjoy teaching?

Yes, not many though. I like to see kids with a passion for music develop their skills. Not the money. There is none
 
One piece of playing advice you would like to pass on?

Communicate.

Gripes about the banding movement in Australia/World?

We have forgotten about the youth. Too many bands don't have a youth programme. We'll die as a movement if we don't do more.

Do you suffer much from performance anxiety and if so, what, if any preventative measures do you use or would recommend?

Yeah, shake a bit sometimes and get a bit dry. I always take water on stage now and try and control my breathing. When I'm practising I like to imagine all of those people who I respect the most sitting in the audience so I'm not overawed when I get there.

As a musician who inspires you most and why?

I'm not particularly inspired by one individual alone. Many people inspire me to be a better musician even Paula Russell - ...creep!bg

Funnies (in music that is!)

I'm too serious for funnies : )

If you were annoited king of the cornet, what crimes would you put players in the stocks for and what things make you do a happy dance?

Crimes: Technique without musicality-death
             Overuse of vib-incarceration
             Overblowing-hung by the neck.
 
Happy dance-musically shaped phrasing and good style.

A bit about your family?

I'm married to Therese who plays Euph with Waratah.I have two kids Bronte aged 8 and Gabriel 5. They're all brilliant. I'm a lucky man


Thanks very much for your time conrad - buglegirl.