|
Martin Pearce
Martin was born into a Salvation Army family in Barnstaple, N Devon. In 1968, aged 8
years, he began to learn the cornet. He progressed through the cornet section onto the
front row. His aspiration, though, was to play the Soprano Cornet.
In 1978, he joined the
RAF Police and, additionally, became involved in the RAF Voluntary Band system where
his desire for the Soprano chair became a reality. He maintained this seat for a number
of years also playing with local civilian bands. During this time he developed an interest
in conducting and was appointed assistant MD of the City of Lincoln Band.
In 1993 he
accepted the 1st horn position with Foss Dyke, a Lincoln based 1st Section band but,
retained his interest in conducting and ‘deputised’ whenever the opportunity arose. Due to
military commitments, his time with Foss Dyke was cut short when he was posted out of the
area.
Martin continued to play with local bands and RAF Voluntary Bands, wherever he
was posted. In 1998, he was posted to RAF Marham in Norfolk, where, in addition to
assisting the local RAF Voluntary Band, he was appointed MD of the Dereham Band.
In
1999, Martin was posted to RAF Halton and joined the Amersham Band on Soprano
Cornet and was appointed Alternate MD where he was responsible for taking the band in
absence of the appointed MD, a freelance professional musician.
Notwithstanding a short
break and a move back onto Solo Horn, he remained at Amersham until Christmas 2008.
During this period, he also played Solo Horn with the British Airways band. He currently
plays 1st horn for Regent Brass, a 1st Section band based in the Wembley area of London.
From his early teens, Martin developed an interest in composing and arranging music for
Brass Bands. He has had a number of pieces published at MMI Music
and his
march, ‘Deep Harmony’, was used as the title track for an Amersham Band CD.
Martin was appointed MD of the West Wycombe Brass Band in March 2009. He is
“pleased to have been appointed and I see my responsibilities as helping the band to
rebuild and improve, believing that attention to detail is important. My wish is that the
players enjoy their music and have a sense of achievement after each session”.
|
|
