Already an active young musician in and around Colchester, Victoria joined BMSB as a tenor horn player in 1996, having first learnt to play a brass instrument through the training band. Somehow, rehearsals and weekend engagements slotted in around homework, piano and bassoon practice, tree-climbing, brownies, guides and just about anything else that might reasonably have been expected to be part of ‘village life’

Victoria remained a committed member of the Band until going to study for an honours degree in music at the University of Surrey, during which she frequently reappeared as a guest player, even venturing up to the flugal and cornet sections. The four-year course offered arts administration and management alongside specialisms in performance and conducting; an ideal training ground for a bassoonist who went on to manage events for the London Symphony Orchestra and now conducts the brass band in her ‘spare’ time.

Orchestral musicianship was always an interest and a pleasure. Alongside ensembles at school and college, Victoria played in the Colne Valley Youth Orchestra, Essex Young People’s Orchestra and Essex Youth Orchestra, with tours to Canada and the United States, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Holland and Italy. Several of these meant taking responsibility for the County’s contrabassoon, which is no small task when you’re the scrawniest person on the trip and also carrying a bassoon, flute and two week’s luggage!

Victoria has since played with several semi-professional, London-based groups, including Orchestra Tamesa and the Orchestra of the City, and is regularly booked for choral society performances in Essex and Surrey. She was a founder member of the UBS Orchestra, an initiative led by the LSO, and has recently performed at both LSO St Luke’s and the Barbican.

Currently the band has vacancies for cornet players.

Please go to the contact page if you are interested