Personnel

Musical Director

Nigel Taken

Nigel studied trumpet at the Coventry School of Music, and later the London College of Music under trumpet professor Dennis Egan. Before moving to London, Nigel's banding experience began with the City of Coventry Band as their flugel soloist at the age of 15, playing regularly with Harry Mortimer's 'Men of Brass' and his 'All Star Brass'.

Nigel works as a music teacher and is Head of Brass at Goffs School in Hertfordshire. He is in great demand as a band trainer and conductor and has achieved success at the highest level. He has worked with many bands in a professional capacity, and is currently the Music Director of the Aveley and Newham Band.

 

 

Principal Cornet

Gavin Hall

 Originally from the Banding "Mecca" known as Yorkshire, Gavin started playing the cornet with the Meltham & Meltham Mills Band. By the age of fifteen, he was a member of the Sellers Engineering Band with whom he made his Championship Section debut at the British Open. After a five year spell with Sellers, Gavin joined the world famous Brighouse & Rastrick Band and commenced studies at Salford University with Dr Roger Webster. A successful five years at Brighouse & Rastrick saw the band become double National Champions, twice All England Masters Champions and once European Champions. Defecting south in 2001, Gavin joined the ranks of the Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards and has toured extensively through Europe, Japan and North America. Gavin has also successfully completed a Post Graduate Diploma in performance at Trinity College of Music. Gavin played Principal cornet with both Redbridge Brass and Staines Brass before joining The Aveley & Newham Band in 2007.

 

Solo Cornet

Bob Osborne

Bob Osborne started playing the cornet aged 5, having lessons with Eddie Williams at St. Dennis Band in Cornwall. He played at the finals at the Royal Albert Hall 7 times with the band and was possibly being the youngest person to do so at the age of 10. As their principal cornet, he won the National Youth Band Finals on two occasions with the St Dennis youth band.
Bob studied trumpet at the Royal Academy of Music with Bill Overton and James Watson and played with the City of London Brass under Geoffrey Brand and London Collegiate Brass under Edward Gregson. Bob had a 20-year career as a freelance trumpet player, mostly with the Saddlers Wells Royal Ballet Orchestra, working with players such as Maurice Murphy, Malcolm Smith, Bill Houghton, John Wilbraham, Nigel Gomm and Anne McAneny.
For the past 10 years he has taught brass in school and has played as 2nd man down and principal cornet at Aveley & Newham since 1999. 2007 will be his 8th appearance at the Finals with the Aveley & Newham Band.

 

 

 

 

Solo Cornet

Scott Walker
Scott was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire in 1977. He was taught to play the cornet at the age of six by his father who, when Scott started playing, formed the Sharleston Colliery Band. During this time he was having cornet lessons with Rita and David James. In 1993 he joined the Jayess Queensbury Band under Jim Shepherd with whom Scott was now having lessons. After a short spell with Jayess he moved to D.U.T. Yorkshire Imperial Band where he held the Repiano chair for 2 years until enlisting into the army and joining the Band of Her Majesty's Irish Guards where his main duties are such ceremonial occasions as Changing of the Guard and Trooping of the Colour. Scott has toured extensively with the Irish Guards including Australia and New Zealand where one of his dreams came true, playing to a packed Sydney Opera House.
Scott joined the Aveley & Newham Band in 2001 and lives locally with his wife Lyndsey who is mascot for the band and has pulled some excellent draws.
 

Second Cornet

Rolf Jones
Rolf Jones was born in a small village in South Wales called Pontarddulais. It had and still has a very musical tradition with a famous male voice choir, a mixed voice choir and a brass band. Rolf joined the band at 8 years of age and played the flugel horn for about 7 years before switching to the cornet. He continued with the band until he left to study pharmacy at Bath University.
After leaving Bath, Rolf moved to Swindon to take up a position with Boots Chemists and spent the next 7 years managing branches in Wiltshire. Throughout this period he played with the British Rail Band (now re-named Pegasus) and had a great time musically and socially.
After leaving Swindon, Rolf's pharmacy career took him to Essex and it was there that he was approached to join the then Aveley Band, where he has played for the last 20 years.
The highlights of his musical career are too numerous to list but the pinnacle of these must include 7th position at the National Finals in 2000 playing Peter Graham's - Harrison's Dream and last year's Grand Shield win in Blackpool playing Whitsun Wakes by Michael Ball.
 

Second Cornet

John Banks
John started learning the cornet aged 8 at Bexley Heath Salvation Army. After moving to Glasgow, he studied trumpet at the RSAMD Junior Department for 4 years, winning the Salvation Army Scottish Junior Musician of the Year Award aged 14. Having then moved to South Africa and Hong Kong, where he won High School Wind Player of the Year and played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, John gained a place at the Royal College of Music. After graduating in 1994 John pursued a freelance career playing with the Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and English National Ballet amongst others. Having suffered an injury to his mouth, resulting in Laser treatment, John decided to change career path and made a move into IT. After 7 years not playing John has joined the Aveley and Newham band where he hopes to fulfil his musical needs and get back to somewhere near the standard he was previously.
 

Third Cornet

Andrew Hornsby
Andrew has been playing the cornet since the age of 6. He started with the Tilbury Learners Band where he got involved in competitions and solo contests. He then moved on to Thurrock Spectrum Brass and continued to improve and played principal cornet in the junior band and then solo cornet in the senior band. He entered Thurrock Young Musician of the Year and won in 2002 and after leaving Spectrum, he played principal cornet for Essex Brass under conductor Steve Drury.
After a year, Andrew left to join Aveley Junior Band under Phil Lawrence, where he took the principal chair once again and also played for Tilbury Senior Band. During his time at Tilbury, he played in contests including the London & Southern Counties 1st and 2nd section area contests and the Crawley entertainment contest. He gained his grade 8 at 15 and then auditioned for Aveley & Newham senior band. Andrew has now played at the French Open and British Open.
He has also played trumpet for various other bands including sitting principal trumpet for the Essex Young People Orchestra, Essex Youth Orchestra, Essex Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Essex Symphonic Wind Orchestra. He has played for The Bromley Concert Band as a guest soloist, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Ron Montgomery Big Band.
 

Third Cornet

Jeff Selway
Jeff Selway started his playing career with Ebbw Vale Town Band in 1959 on cornet and joined Tredegar in 1969 on front row under the late John Childs and alongside the spiralling Childs clan. He moved to Essex in 1973, teaching in Aveley and was lucky to find a good band close by.
Jeff joined Aveley Band in 1974 and has been Librarian and Treasurer of the band's committee. He has played in all seats on both the front and back rows apart from soprano, even playing principal at the area contest in Watford with 'Beatrice and Benedict'. Jeff was the band's flugel player for many years and has also played horn and percussion briefly!
Jeff's favourite concert was at the Cunard International Hotel in Chiswick when they were expecting a dance band but got the Aveley & Newham band playing Glen Miller and Mood Indigo on repeat all night. His best contest was winning the Grand Shield.
 

Flugel Horn

David Lewis
David started playing at the age of 9 with The Tilbury Youth Band, progressing to The Tilbury Band on 3rd Cornet by the age of 11. After periods on soprano and flugel David was given the seat of principal cornet at the age of 15 and remained there for 10 years, winning many soloist awards. After a short break from banding he became Resident Conductor of the Aveley Band in 1992 and Aveley & Newham Band in 1993.
David left the Aveley & Newham Band in 1995 to conduct Northfleet Brass Band, who he took from 2nd Section to Championship Section, before returning to Aveley & Newham Band on Cornet in 1997.
Promotion to Principal Cornet came in 1998, a position held until 2002 and David has been the flugel player for the band since 2005. His most memorable moments include playing in RAH, Barbican, National Theatre, QEH and in France, Germany, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium.
 

Solo Horn

Kelly-Ann Harrison
Kelly-Ann started playing the tenor horn at the age of 7. Her early playing years were dedicated to the brass band movement, playing with her local band Southend. She joined the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain at the age of 13, playing for 6 years working her way up to principal horn. She was then invited to join the Young Ambassadors Brass Band of Great Britain at 18. She has also played for many other bands including Forresters, Redbridge and Desford.
Aside from Kelly-Ann's banding career, she received a full scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music and it was there that she was introduced to the French horn. Now a graduate of the Royal College of Music and a Licentiate of the Guildhall School of Music, she is currently studying for her FRSM.
Kelly-Ann is a secondary school music teacher, a private brass and piano coach and a regular tutor with Essex Music Services.
 

First Horn

Trevor Foster
Trevor started learning the cornet at the age of 10 with Aveley Junior Class. He joined his brother and succeeded his father in playing with the senior band from 1958 and his first area contest was in 1959. He competed against Grimethorpe in the Championship Section at Southend in 1961 and 1962 under the leadership of George Thompson.
Trevor has held the solo horn position since 1968, leaving Aveley to retire in 1989 and then brought out of retirement firstly by Tilbury and then Newham in 1991 before joining the merged band in 1993.
Trevor was regularly used as a deputy player and has played with Grimethorpe, Y.B.S., Hammonds Sauce Works, Yorkshire Imperial and even Grimley Colliery.
 

Second Horn

Amanda Aitken
Amanda started playing in Romford Junior Band in 1969 and after several years playing Jolson Memories and Fairy on the Clock, was judged good enough to play second baritone in the Romford Band, who were noteworthy only for turning Bram Tovey down when he auditioned for MD on the basis that he was too young. She spent a couple of years on that seat then moved to 1st horn. Amanda stayed with Romford Band for a total of 23 years before moving to Newham prior to the merge and them becoming Aveley & Newham Band.
Amanda went to the Guildhall junior department for a year where Peter Civil, cousin of the more famous Alan, taught her.
 

First Baritone

Steven Kane
Profile not available yet
 

Second Baritone

Tracy Brown
Tracy started playing the tenor horn at Leighton Buzzard Salvation Army at 7 years old and completed all her grades whilst at school before getting her music degree at Kingston University. After a year of tenor horn lessons with Phil Randall at Sun Life she changed to the euphonium and had lessons from Cliff Jones at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall. She then joined the Army and played euphonium with Royal Artillery for 4 years. During this time she completed her masters degree in music performance and related studies at Goldsmiths University. After leaving the Army Tracy played with various bands before joining Aveley & Newham Band on 2nd baritone.
 

Second Trombone

Ben Jones
Ben started playing the Trombone at the age of 9. At 10, he was awarded a place in the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain where he was a member for 4 years and as Principal for 2.
It was during this time that Ben started learning with Alan Hutt and continued his studies at Wells Cathedral School, a specialist music school in Somerset where he was awarded a full scholarship.
After A-levels, Ben spent the next 4 years studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London, under tuition from Dudley Bright, Denis Wick, Ian Bousfield and James Watson. He has performed in ensembles in many prestigious venues including St David's Hall, The Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican to name just a few.
Ben joined the Aveley and Newham band in autumn 2006 and hopes to enjoy many successful years with the band.
 

Bass Trombone

Andrew Austin
Andy began his musical career at the age of 9 when he was handed a trombone and told to blow it straight. Not realising the musical implications of this he has since devoted himself to becoming laser sharp and extremely loud.
Formative years were spent in various areas of the Midlands playing for successful soul outfits such as 'Back 2 Miami', along with Jazz Bands and the Midland Youth Orchestra. After a period of inebriation at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama he discovered the Brass Band movement and the challenge of really blowing.
Relocation to London was forced, and after a period of time with the YMSO he wandered into the Aveley & Newham Band room after being given the wrong directions by a fellow trombonist.
Andy is a keen arranger of all styles of music, featuring in many of the bands concert and entertainment contest successes. Most recently he arranged material for the talented vocalist Lucy Rhodes. He currently holds the position of 'Director of Music and Performing Arts' at the New Line Learning Federation of Schools in Maidstone, Kent.

 

 

 

Euphonium

Hannah Morton
Hannah joined the City of Oxford beginner's band at the age of 5 playing tenor horn. She then joined the training band and moved on to the Baritone and then finally the Euphonium.
Hannah achieved distinction at grade 8 at the age of 14 and was a member of the National Youth Wind Orchestra at 16. She graduated from the Royal Holloway University of London in 1997 with a degree in Music.
Hannah stayed with the City of Oxford Band for 20 years, playing Solo Euphonium for 8 years in the Senior Band, qualifying for the National Finals on Montage and then coming close with 3 third places at the area in a row.
Hannah joined the Aveley & Newham Band in 2003 on 2nd Euphonium.
 

Principal EEb Bass

David Klein
David started playing relatively late, only learning what a tuba was at his secondary school. He steadily improved with eager enthusiasm especially after receiving tuition from Graham Sibley at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and joining the Junior Guildhall Brass Band.
Eventually, he joined his local contesting brass band, Castle Point. David has also spent time playing for other bands in the locality such as Northfleet Brass, Tilbury Band and Clacton on Sea Co-Operative band before he was thrilled to be accepted into Aveley & Newham Band in 2003. As well as being an active player, David also teaches in his spare time and is the musical director for the Tilbury Learners Ensemble.
 

EEb Bass

Tony Pemberton
Tony Pemberton began playing tuba at the age of 11 following a short career as a clarinettist. Tony studied at the Lancashire School of Music and Drama where he was taught by Glynn Lloyd. A year later he joined his local brass band Poulton-le-Fylde Brass and was appointed principal Eb Bass at the Lancashire Youth Brass Band under the direction of Peter Read. In 1989 Tony joined Freckleton Brass Band where he learnt from Gordon Clough and Roy Curran.
In 1991, wanting to make music his career, Tony joined Kneller Hall Royal Military School of Music where he studied tuba under Professor Patrick Harrild and Double Bass under Dick Driver. During his time at the school he joined British Airways Brass Band.
In 1994 he was posted to The Royal Artillery Band where he is now principal tuba. In 2002 he joined Northfleet Brass under the direction of David Lewis where he enjoyed a series of successive wins that took them from the Second section to the Championship section.
In January 2006 he joined the Aveley & Newham Band where he has enjoyed the recent success of regaining the London and Southern Counties Area Champions and the Grand Shield.
 

BBb Bass

Gwyn Press

Gwyn has played with most of the Welsh bands, his own being Tredegar but has also assisted Black Dyke on numerous occasions. He is currently a full time musician in the Royal Artillery Band and loves his brass banding, classical music, good food, good beer, and fast cars.

 

 

 

 

BBb Bass

Barrie Pantrey
Profile not yet available
 

BBb Bass

Derek Morris

Following Derek's father's long connections with the Aveley Band from 1921 to 1986, Derek was encouraged to join Aveley Junior Band in 1962 studying with Cyril Mead, Jack Jones and Harold Green. He then entered the Senior Band making his debut at the Friends Meeting House Euston at the Daily Herald Contest in 1964 on Eb bass later moving onto BBb bass around 1967.
Derek has completed concert tours to Belgium, Holland, Germany and France and broadcasts include Listen to the Band, Friday Night is Music Night, Among Your Souvenirs and Sam on Sunday. He has appeared in many television shows, television advertisements and documentaries and appeared at the National Theatre in the stage production of Brassed Off. He has also been involved in many band recordings and appeared at the National Finals at the Albert Hall and Westminster Central Hall 7 or 8 times.
Derek has served on the band committee for over 30 years and is currently band Chairman, a post held for 25 years with 2 exceptions when negotiating the band merge in 1993 with the Newham Band. He is a band trustee and Vice President and I was made a life member of the Aveley & Newham Band 1996 serving the Band with an unbroken service for some 42 years.

 

 

 

Percussion

Nigel Brinklow

Nigel was born in Aberdeen and started playing the side drum in a pipe band at the age of 8. At 14 he joined the percussion section of Bon-Accord Silver Band, who had recently been placed as runners-up in the Scottish Championships on Images. His debut on clash cymbals in Waverly Overture made no impression and the band came last.
Nigel left Aberdeen in 1997 to see the bright lights and gold pavements of London. He joined the Aveley & Newham Band where he was able to reverse his debut fortunes by winning the area championships on Montage. He has enjoyed many highlights in his playing career including playing at a packed Pittodrie Stadium (Aberdeen FC), playing in Brassed Off at the National Theatre, the Usher Hall Edinburgh with NYBBS, the Edinburgh Festival with BSB, my first Albert Hall outing playing Between the Moon & Mexico, the reception of the audience at the gala concert of the French Open, winning the Grand Shield, and trying to play while very drunk every Christmas in the Winter Gardens, Aberdeen.

 

 

 

 

Percussion

Jonathan Kitchen
Jon took up the cello at the age of 7 and went on to study at the Royal College of Music in London. Whilst there he won five of the College's cello prizes, including the Leo Stern Award, the RCM's senior 'cello award. He has subsequently freelanced professionally as a cellist throughout the UK and abroad.
Having always been interested in percussion he joined Aveley & Newham Band after giving Andy Austin a lift to the band room one night. The Aveley & Newham Band played on his debut cello CD "Camaraderie" and Jonathan is particularly proud of the collaboration on the Elgar 'Cello Concerto.
Other highlights with the band include the 7th place in 2000 at the National finals as well as marching up the main street in Amboise this summer without falling over.
Jon's dad is an avid brass band fan and to this day is made up having seen Aveley & Newham Band at the National Finals with his son in it's ranks. His Mum is also a convert, having attended the British Open in 2006 and listening to 7 bands on the trot. This was mainly due to a foot injury that made it difficult to leave, but she enjoyed it nonetheless...
 

Percussion

Chris Yule
Chris, a reformed violinist from Aberdeen, began playing music at the tender age of seven before realising how much more fun percussion is at age 14. He joined the Bon Accord Silver Band in 2001 and played with most youth bands in Aberdeen and various bands across Scotland.
After graduating in 2006, Chris moved to the bright lights and alleged big money in London to work as an IT Consultant, just in time for Aveley & Newham's debut at the British Open and the National Finals a short while later. Chris is also currently Principal Percussionist of the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland.