With their appearance at the European Championships in Ostend on the immediate horizon, Brighouse & Rastrick has announced the signing of Swiss cornet star Kathleen Gaspoz as their new principal cornet.

The invitation sees the RNCM student move from the repiano seat at Black Dyke to become the first female principal cornet in the West Riding band's 136 year history.

Black Dyke move

The three-time Swiss Cornet Champion moved to the UK in 2015 to study her Master in Music at the Royal Northern College of Music and stayed on to undertake an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma.

After holding principal cornet positions with the National Youth Band of Switzerland and the European Youth Brass Band, Kathleen joined Black Dyke where she played solo cornet and latterly repiano.

The move comes after she was approached by Brighouse & Rastrick professional conductor, Prof David King after he was impressed by her playing at a RNCM masterclass.

Privilege

Kathleen told 4BR: "It's a privilege to be appointed principal cornet of the famous Brighouse & Rastrick Band and to fulfil a lifelong goal like this. The musicality of Prof David King has always been a source of inspiration for my playing and it is a huge honour to have his support.

It's been an absolute pleasure to play with Black Dyke for the past two years. I will take with me some fantastic experiences and memories with Black Dyke and of course some lifelong friends."

She added: "As I commence this new and exciting chapter, I'm absolutely thrilled. I cannot wait to commence with the band and perform with them at the European Championships in Ostend."

Dominic and Kathleen are both international students studying at the RNCM and are amongst the finest young brass musicians in banding today. We are looking forward to hearing more from this new, dynamic duoBand spokesman Ryan Watkins

Soprano move

It was also confirmed that the move allows an internal shift in personnel with principal cornet, Dominic Longhurst, moving to the soprano cornet role to coincide with his increasingly busy trumpet schedule, which is seeing the talented Australian gaining further exposure in the orchestral field.

Dynamic duo

Band spokesman Ryan Watkins told 4BR: "The appointment of Kathleen coincides with the equally exciting move by Dominic Longhurst to the soprano chair, following the recent announcement of Alan Morrison's retirement.

Dominic and Kathleen are both international students studying at the RNCM and are amongst the finest young brass musicians in banding today. We are looking forward to hearing more from this new, dynamic duo."