SPAL Sovereign Brass has announced the appointment of Alan Gifford as Musical Director.

The respected trombonist has more recently been concentrating on developing his conducting career and is currently studying for his Masters in Music specialising in Brass Band Conducting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC).

Bolsover debut

He also works as a brass instrumental teacher for Services for Education — Music Service in Birmingham. Alan's first official engagement will be leading the band at the Bolsover Entertainment Contest in October.

Alan previously enjoyed a successful tenure as MD at Amington Band, leading them to Midlands Regional Championship success in 2020 and 2022, as well as jointly leading the RBC Brass Band to the UniBrass Championship title earlier this year.

He was also a finalist in this year's Brass Band Conductors Association competition.

Looking forward

Talking about the appointment he said: "I'm looking forward to working with everyone at Sovereign Brass. I've had the chance to conduct them in a series of concerts and they really showed they have an enormous amount of potential and ability to do well on both the concert and contest stage."

We see the partnership flourishing and look forward to a successful and exciting future aheadSPAL Sovereign Brass

Exciting future

In response, band spokesperson Steve Parsons added: "We would wish to thank everyone who applied for the role and we are excited that Alan has accepted our invitation.

We see the partnership flourishing and look forward to a successful and exciting future ahead."