Hi! I’m George and I play euphonium in the band.

Being brought up in a Salvation Army family it was inevitable that I’d have a brass instrument thrust into my hands as soon as I was old enough to hold it, so I’ve been playing brass since I was 5 or 6.

I started on the cornet, but by the time I was 13 or 14 I switched to the euphonium, which is acknowledged by everyone in the brass world as the most melodious instrument in any band. The name ‘euphonium’ means ‘sweet voiced’, and the conical bore of the instrument gives it a sound which is dark, rich, warm and velvety and which the players of all the other instruments in the band envy…

When I left school I stopped playing, and didn’t pick up a brass instrument again for 25 years or so. I was therefore astonished when I did so to find I remembered how to play it, and that even the fingering came back to me immediately. Lapsed brass players take note!!! You’re never too old to return to the fold!!!

I retired a few years ago after a career in IT which spanned almost 40 years (including working for a while on the first generation of PCs, which didn’t even have a hard disk!), but now work part time driving Christchurch’s historic trams.

Our family is quite musical with both my daughters playing several instruments. A few years ago I persuaded my clarinet/piano playing wife to take up brass as well, and she now plays solo cornet in the SSB.