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Musical Director


Neil Robinson

photo of Neil Robinson musical director

 

Neil Robinson started as our new Musical Director on Monday 23rd January 2023.

He began playing euphonium in 1970 at Moorside School (on the East Lancs road) aged 11. As his interest in music developed, he became a member of Lancashire Youth Brass Band before becoming conductor of Swinton Concert Brass at the tender age of 17. Having left school, he began playing in many bands and groups locally, Walkden Youth (as a dep on Bass Trombone), Salford Brass a 12 piece ensemble run by Darrol Barry (another former Walkden Band conductor) to name but a few.

On leaving school he began an engineering apprenticeship, and is a toolmaker by trade, before leaving the workplace to study Music at Salford in 1979. Here he was taught trombone by David Loukes, conducting by Roy Newsome and arranging by Goff Richards. Soon a member of the Rochdale Wilsons Band, he performed in many higher section bands culminating in the time he spent at the then famous Wingates Temperance Band. Professionally he moved from Salford to Manchester University where I completed a B.Ed in music and subsequently began a thirty year long teaching career at several secondary schools in the North West and Yorkshire. Teaching music in schools meant that directing and performing continued on a daily basis.

Whilst his family were growing up he relocated from Bolton to Halifax to teach over the hills on the “dark side”. Then went back to conducting bands with his greatest success (so far) seeing Drighlington Band promoted to the championship section where they were narrowly defeated by Black Dyke and Brighouse whilst only two marks off Grimethorpe Colliery!

Music is something he's work at very seriously and feels that he is able to engender quality performing and enjoyable rehearsal at Farnworth and Walkden as they move on to their next stage of development.