Whilst the rest of the banding world was away sunning themselves during the Summer months, some members of the Staffordshire Band were a little bit busier!

Getting around

Flugel Horn star Robert Smith, spent his time 'getting around a bit' with various musical groups.

To start off he played with the CBSO Youth Orchestra as Principal Trumpet. A week of rehearsals culminated in a concert at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on 'Mahler 7' — a piece with its fair share of trumpet solos, to say the least!

Robert is a really super player and the experience he is gaining at the moment will certainly be of huge benefit to him in his future careerShaun Elliott

London

During that week of rehearsals, he also had to travel down to London to audition for the National Youth Orchestra, for which he has been made Principal Trumpet as well.

During this coming year, they will have concerts all over the UK, including Birmingham, and their season will culminate in a live broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Prom series next August.

Gregson

And if that wasn't enough, he has also been asked to perform Gregson's 'Trumpet Concerto' in Lichfield Cathedral next year with the Staff Orchestra of the Staffordshire Performing Arts Service as part of the major festival held there every year.

Benefit

Chairman Shaun Elliott told 4BR: "Robert is a really super player and the experience he is gaining at the moment will certainly be of huge benefit to him in his future career."