There are a trio of new signings at Lanner & District Silver Band in time to boost their preparations ahead of their appearance at the First Section National Finals in Cheltenham next month.

Trio

Mark Bray joins on euphonium, Mike Hall comes in on bass trombone and Jess Penaluna links up with the percussion section.

Mark brings a wealth of experience to fill the position vacated by Matt Rowe, who has joined Tongwynlais Temperance on the start of his studies at the RWCMD in Cardiff.

Meanwhile, Mike fills the position vacated by Peter Holmes. Peter has returned to Scotland after successfully completing his studies in Musical Performance at the Combined Universities of Cornwall.

He will now play with Newtongrange and will compete against Lanner in Cheltenham!

Completing the trio of signings is Jess Penaluna.

Jess is the first ‘graduate’ of the Lanner Brass Academy to make the leap into the senior band, and fills the position vacated by Simon Wills who is taking a break from playing.

Mark and Mike are fine players but it is even more pleasing to welcome Jess from our Academy BandMD, Stuart Chappell

Great signings

MD, Stuart Chappell told 4BR: "Losing Matt, Pete and Simon was a real shame, but we have been lucky to have found three great signings remarkably quickly. Mark and Mike are fine players but it is even more pleasing to welcome Jess from our Academy Band."

Red letter day

He added: "This is a real red letter day for the Lanner organisation, as the Academy was only formed three years ago."