Marie Smith is to retire from Shirland Welfare Training Band.

One of brass banding's biggest personalities is laying down her baton for the last time in major competition in March this year, having enjoyed a lifetime of playing in and conducting brass bands, with considerable national and international success.

Continue her skills

Marie is retiring after conducting, teaching and mentoring the young players of the Shirland Welfare Training Band for the last ten years, although she does intend to continue to use her skills in limited but specialist band teaching.

Exceptional ability

Marie, who lives in the neighbouring Derbyshire village of Stonebroom, has been teaching brass music in the area for over 40 years and is now on her second generation of brass players.

She has an exceptional ability to teach children and many of her students have gone on to enjoy professional careers. Five have become national champions of Great Britain.

I'm very much looking forward to my retirement and it will be rather strange not having to live my life around the band, but I do look forward to some involvement but in a far more relaxed mannerMarie Smith

Brass band family

Born into a brass-playing family, Marie was taught the cornet at the age of three by her father, who was also a renowned player and conductor at the Shirland Band and she has been connected with the band ever since.

Although Marie became a professional trumpet player with the internationally famous Ivy Benson Band for a number of years and travelled the world playing music, she has remained loyal to her Derbyshire roots.

Success

As a soloist and champion herself, she has continued to teach music in the area and under her direction Shirland's young quartets have won the National Junior Quartet Championship of Great Britain on no less than seven occasions, the most recent success being in November 2007. In 2005 Marie led the Training Band onto the international stage, when they won Gold in the World Championships in Kerkrade, Holland.

Countless musicians

In her time she has taught music to countless young musicians, some of whom have gone on to become professional players in their own right. A colourful figure and well known as a musical perfectionist, Marie has refined the knack of taking relatively inexperienced youngsters and honing them into a top quality brass band.

Looking forward

Marie told 4BR: "I'm very much looking forward to my retirement and it will be rather strange not having to live my life around the band, but I do look forward to some involvement but in a far more relaxed manner".

Maire will continue her work with the the Shirland youth band at occasional contests.

Record

A shining example of Marie's ability is the record of the Shirland Training Band, which speaks for itself. Upon its formation in 1998, mums, dads and children in Shirland joined together and in 2000 won the British Mineworkers Championship and in 2001 the National Fourth Section Championship. These two big wins were quickly followed by the band lifting the British Mineworkers trophy for the second successive year in 2001.

Rise through the ranks

Since that time, there has been a steady turnover of youngsters, as the 'senior' teenagers going away to university are replaced by younger, less experienced players who come through from the Junior Band.

Yet Shirland's rise continued unabated as the band won the national Third Section and Second Section titles — also in successive years — before being promoted to the First Section in January 2007, where they compete today.

Under Marie's direction, the band has come a long way since its formation in 1998 and it is easy to see why. She is a perfectionist musician and conductor who is totally dedicated to her craft.

Simple approach

Her approach to music is quite straight forward as she told 4BR: "If you keep it simple and play the music as it is written, then you won't go far wrong!"

Continue to tutor

In the last two years Marie has been troubled with illness and although she may continue to tutor some of the young children, she will be retiring as musical director of the Training Band after the 2008 Midlands Area competition, through which qualification would lead to an appearance in the National Finals in Harrogate later in the year.

Married with one son, Marie is an active member of the British Brass Band Association and is well known and respected for her views, hard work and commitment to the brass music cause, both nationally and locally.