Pete Collins, the conductor of Foresters Brass 2000, has announced he is swapping his baton for the Bar — although not the type of bar normally associated with brass bands — he’s embarking on a new career as a barrister.

Time to cut back

Pete recently passed his first year of studies at Nottingham Law School, and as his huge pile of text books arrived to welcome him into his second year of distance-learning studies, he decided it was time to cut back on some of his many commitments.

Wonderful time

He told 4BR: "I've had the most wonderful 7 years conducting the band, and it’s been a privilege to work with such committed, passionate players. I'm very sad to be leaving Foresters, but in order to fulfil my own long-term aims, I had to make the difficult decision to cut down on my own workload to concentrate on my studies."

Hard act to follow

The band has now placed an advert on 4BR looking for a new Musical Director, though Chairman Dan Baker says he’ll be a hard act to follow: "Pete has taken the band by the scruff of its neck and steered us from the Third Section to the top few of the First Section. He has helped our young band to progress and we are all enormously sorry to see him go, but fully understand and support his decision."

Pete will undertake his final engagement with the band in October.