Abertillery Town Band has announced the appointment of Joshua Ruck as their new Musical Director.

Debut

Josh recently made his debut with the Gwent valley band at the Welsh League contest in Merthyr Tydfil, leading them to a highly encouraging second place finish in a highly competitive Third Section, just a point behind reigning National Champion Ebbw Valley.

Excited

A band spokesman told 4BR: "We are delighted to welcome Josh and are excited by the progress already made in the short time that we have been working together. Our performance at Merthyr came after just a few weeks of rehearsal.”

I’m looking forward to working with Abertillery. The performance they gave in Merthyr showed a great deal of progress, and they are a band that plays in a very mature mannerJosh Ruck

Wessex victory

The talented young musician is the former resident conductor at Tongwynlais Temperance, as well as current MD of AW Parker (Drybrook), who he led to a remarkable victory at the recent Wessex Contest.

Josh told 4BR: “I’m looking forward to working with Abertillery. The performance they gave in Merthyr showed a great deal of progress, and they are a band that plays in a very mature manner.

There is a great deal of potential here and I hope together we can great take strides forward."