Hammonds Saltaire has announced a quartet of new signings ahead of a busy contesting schedule that includes appearances at the First Section National Finals in Cheltenham.

Trom, perc, bass and horn

Mark Ayres has joined on principal trombone, Matthew Payne on percussion, Chris Harrison on Bb Bass and Pete Watson on tenor horn.

Impressive

MD, Morgan Griffiths told 4BR: "I’m pleased to be welcoming our new players to the band. All of them bring a wealth of championship experience and top quality musicianship to add to our already impressive player base."

New horn player Pete Watson added: "I’m very happy to have joined Hammonds as the band is progressing so much. It’s a exciting time to be part of it."

The band has recently gone on their summer break before returning to begin work on ‘La Forza del Destino’ ahead of Cheltenham.

I’m pleased to be welcoming our new players to the band. All of them bring a wealth of championship experience and top quality musicianship to add to our already impressive player baseMD, Morgan Griffiths

Awards

In the meantime, the band has made their annual band awards, with the prestigious ‘Conductors Award’ chosen by Musical Director Morgan Griffiths going to solo baritone player Michael Walsh, whilst the ‘Players Player Award’ went to principal cornet, Jamie Smith.

Morgan Griffiths added: "They were hard decisions to make. Michael’s a great bandsman and example to us all, whilst Jamie won his award because of his fantastic consistency of performance throughout this year."