Hammonds sign new Assistant Principal Cornet

Neal Booth, the band’s new assistant principal cornet player

The Hammonds Band are pleased to announce that Neil Booth has joined on assistant principal cornet. Neil was previously principal cornet at Boarshurst Silver Band during a successful period included winning the 2nd section National Finals in 2017 and he brings a lot of experience to the front row having previously spent 12 years with the Milnrow Band. Neil will make his contest debut for Hammonds at The British Open Championships on Saturday 8th September.

Musical Director Morgan Griffiths said “We are thrilled to have such a quality player as Neil join the team in such an important position. We wish him every success here.”

Grand Shield Winners in demand!

The Hammonds Band have been very much in demand over the past few weeks with an array of concerts, competitions, recordings and other projects all on the go.

Following on from contest success at The Grand Shield and Hebden Bridge March contest they returned to their home territory of West Yorkshire to perform at Batley Town Hall. The concert on the theme of ‘Myths and Legends’ saw Hammonds perform works by Phillip Harper, Dimitri Shostakovic, Edouard Lalo and Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

This was then followed up by a recording an episode of “From the Bandroom” for East Leeds FM. This truly shown the band’s commitment as it was at the same time England were playing Columbia in the World Cup! The hour long show, to be broadcast later this year, featured a special program of music mixed in with interviews with Musical Director Morgan Griffiths, players and officials from the band.

A Band spokesperson said “it’s been non-stop since we returned to Huddersfield with the Grand Shield! The players and their families deserve huge credit for the commitment and energy they’ve shown. We’re going to now enjoy our summer break before we resume our preparations for our return to the Symphony Hall, Birmingham in September”.