Sara Munns was a pupil at Penryn School where she was lucky enough to learn brass playing with John Austin. During secondary school years she was principal trumpet player in the Cornwall Youth Orchestra, Cornwall Youth Brass Ensemble and Cornwall Youth Jazz Orchestra. Next came three years in London where she gained a music degree from the London College of Music and during this time studied trumpet, piano and conducting and worked round London for various orchestras, show bands and brass ensembles. Sara’s  biggest claim to fame at that point was working with Roy Castle on not one but two occasions!  After  London Sara moved to Greece to teach music in a private school,  and was inspired to formally train as a classroom teacher for secondary school age pupils.    Since then Sara has worked in a number of schools in the West Country, including 5 years as Head of Music at Helston Community College, where she enjoyed having John Austin and Clive King as colleagues.  Sara manages to keep a semi-professional trumpet playing and conducting career ticking over - however she admits to being virtually a beginner cornet player!  Sara says “Gweek Band is a fun and friendly environment and I'm really glad to be part of it.”
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Clive King was born in Truro in 1968. He attended Mullion school from 1980 – 1985 and then went on to Chethams School of Music.  Following his graduation he joined the RAF Central Band (1987 - 2004),  touring the USA, Hong Kong, the Gulf and most of Europe. His extensive performing career includes playing for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the Edinburgh Tattoo and at the Cenotaph, to the slightly less formal playing at Ronnie Scotts with the Squadronnaires Big Band. During the first Gulf War Clive served as a medic.
Away from the RAF Clive has played with the Hong Kong Phil, the BBC Big Band, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and taught brass at the Egerton Rothay School in Berkhamstead from 2000 until 2004.
Clive has now taken over the baton of the Helston School Jazz Orchestra and led them to a silver medal at the National Band Contest Finals at Gateshead in the spring of 2007.  We are very pleased that Clive finds time in his busy schedule to play Cornet for Gweek Silver Band.


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John Austin, on leaving Christ's Hospital School where he played saxophone and trumpet, joined the Royal Artillery Band at Woolwich and studied at the Guildhall School of Music.  Following a period of fourteen years as a professional freelance trumpeter he returned to his home in Cornwall to teach music and to form his popular showband.
For eighteen years John was a peripatetic brass teacher for the County Music Service and was appointed Head of Brass and Area Co-ordinator.  He was for many years the MD of the award winning Helston School Jazz Orchestra.  John retired from teaching at Helston College and conducting the HSJO in  2006, and we are delighted and privileged to have his services at Gweek Silver Band playing Cornet.

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Chris Lugg - Awaiting Biography














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Ally Smith - Awaiting Biography













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David Ferris was brought up on a farm near Helston, and has always had an interest in music. He began playing in earnest at the age of seven, when he started learning the cornet with Helston Junior Band, and the piano at Porthleven Primary School. He also recently started the saxophone (much to the ill-concealed disgust of our MD!) By the time he progressed to Helston Community College, the piano had become his first instrument, and he currently holds the keyboard seat in the Helston School Jazz Orchestra, under the directorship of Clive King and formerly John Austin, as well as numerous other small groups. He is rumoured to favour the piano on the basis that you can easily blame someone else for tuning errors, but still continues to soldier on with his brass playing.  David joined Gweek Silver Band at the beginning of 2009, a move that was probably considered inevitable by many on account of his grandfather Leslie Collins' long association with the band. He currently plays 2nd cornet, and enjoys the light-hearted attitude of the band. He is currently studying music in the 6th form at Helston College, and hopes to go on to play professionally in the future.
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Richard Ferris's first experience of music was with Helston Junior Band, where he still plays today on solo cornet. During his time at Porthleven Primary School, he also began learning the guitar, and has since shed two strings and also taken up the bass, on which he is taught by the multi-talented Clive King! He recently began playing bass in the award-winning Helston School Jazz Orchestra, but still keeps his brass playing on top form, playing Repiano Cornet with Gweek Silver Band. Richard is currently taking his GCSEs at Helston Community College, and practising hard for Grade 8 on both bass and cornet! He enjoys the relaxed atmosphere of the band, and the knowledge that he is actually higher placed in the band rankings than his older and supposedly more experienced brother!




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Abby Hocking - Awaiting biography













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Anne Green  - I was born and brought up in Worthing, Sussex where my only claim to musical fame was playing in the school recorder group.  I studied Horticultural Science at Reading University and then moved out to Fiji for three years with husband Andy.
We returned to Durham and then moved to Cornwall in 1984.   My middle son Anthony started piano lessons while at primary school but decided it wasn’t for him and switched to trombone.   He had lessons with David Nicholas of Gweek Silver Band and since I was the taxi driving him down to Gweek every week for band practice, I decided I might as well have a go myself.   After some excellent tuition with Roy Williams I joined the band playing second baritone around 12 years ago and I was soon joined by the rest of the family – Steven on euphonium,  Andy on trombone and David on cornet.   I  played flugelhorn for a spell and now play second cornet.   My sons also played in Helston School Jazz Orchestra under John Austin.   Anthony now plays for Farnborough Concert Band of the Royal British Legion.

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Sarah Trerise is a local  girl, born and raised in the Stithians area.     She  became interested in brass banding at a very early age, which was quite surprising, as other family members were not musically inclined.   In fact her talents first showed at the age of ten, when she became a junior member of St Stithians Band playing tenor horn.
Sarah was a pupil at Stithians Primary School and eventually moved on to Redruth Secondary School, where she was an occasional musician with the school wind band.
Common sense then prevailed, and Sarah became a member of Gweek Silver Band, where, apart from a years break from playing when she moved away from the area at the age of nineteen, she has remained to this day.
Sarah has competed in various local solo contests at Wendron,  Stithians and Camborne and is presently comfortably settled on the second cornet stand at Gweek Silver Band, where she enjoys the lively atmosphere and good-natured banter of this excellent band.

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Vivian Smitheram     During his banding career, Vivian has played with  most of the bands in this part of the County. He was born and brought up in St Keverne, where he attended the local Primary School before  moving on to Helston Secondary School.
Vivian started  playing  at the age of eight, when he was a member of St Keverne band learning the Bb Cornet.  As Vivian got older there came a succession of band moves, first to Helston, then to Lanner and finally back to St Keverne at about the age of twentyone,  where he transferred to his present instrument, the Eb Soprano Cornet.
After St Keverne, Vivian was on the move again, this time to the dizzy heights of Camborne Band where he played for several seasons. There followed a brief interlude with Porthleven band but  due to pressure of work and family commitments, Vivian had to give up playing for over fifteen years.  We are very fortunate that when Vivian decided to take up banding again, he chose the Gweek Silver band, where for the last eighteen months his virtuoso Soprano cornet has provided colour and sparkle to our repertoire.