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Former Players

Former members of the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland are to be found the length and breadth of the country. Many are professional musicians but many more make up the backbone of the brass band culture throughout Scotland.

The following is a brief list of a few former members who have gone on to achieve great success in the musical world.

John Wallace OBE	Former Principal Trumpet with the Philharmonia Orchestra and now Principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, John provided the narration to the NYBBS documentary ‘Brass Over Munich’.
James Gourlay	Acclaimed tuba soloist and conductor, until recently he was Head of Wind and Percussion at the Royal Northern College of Music where he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship.
Lesley Howie	Lesley’s claim to fame was that she was the first ever female player to become a member of the Black Dyke Band. This resulted in her being featured as a page 3 girl in the Daily Telegraph!
Alan Fernie	Composer of the NYBBS most recent commission, ‘Alba’, based on ‘Scots, wha hae’. Practically no brass band concert programme is complete without an Alan Fernie arrangement.
Kenneth Crookston	An enthusiastic amateur player, Kenny now has one of the most influential jobs in banding as Editor of ‘British Bandsman’.
Angela Whelan	In 1995, Angela became the first female brass player in twenty years to win the coveted gold medal for the Shell/LSO Music Scholarship. A member of the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble since 1997, Angela is much in demand around the world as a trumpet soloist.
Russell Gray	Many CDs have been produced which display Russell’s mastery of the cornet. He is now mastering the art of conducting and has already led the Leyland Band to the title ‘2005 National Champions of Great Britain’.
Sheona White	In 1996, Sheona won the coveted title "BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of The Year" and subsequently made her London debut with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. She featured on the famous BBC recording and video of Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’.

The NYBBS basks in the reflected glory of our most successful former members. It is the majority of our former members, however, of whom we are most proud. The countless hundreds who still perform with amateur bands and orchestras throughout the country; the dozens of young players who were enthused to make music their profession and have become teachers or orchestral players across the world; the talented people who understand the value of music, education and teamwork and who continue to support our efforts to this day.