Strata Brass has announced some new signing and changes in their cornet section as they ahead to the prospect of the First Section National Finals in Cheltenham in September.

New principal

Lucy Heeley joins on principal cornet from Chapeltown Silver Band, where she was assistant principal since 2017. During that time she won numerous accolades, including the 'Rotherham Young Musician of the Year' title in 2017 and more recently claiming several prizes at the popular Holme Valley solo competition.

The 13 year old is also a member of the National Youth Band of Great Britain, and told 4BR: "I'm really excited to be given this fantastic opportunity and I'm looking forward to the challenge. I would like to thank everyone at Chapeltown for their support over the last three years, especially Andrew Dennis and Sam Fisher."

Front row

The band also welcomes Jennifer Doran on to the front row from Worsborough Brass. She commented: "I'm also looking forward to being part of such a good band and hope to improve as a player over the coming months."

Strata has placed no record their thanks to John Parkinson who moves down to assistant principal due to work commitments, but who will continue to play a major role in helping mentor the new principal cornet signing, and Phil Barrett, who has had to retire from playing through ill health."

We're building a strong team of talented players at Strata and the addition of these two outstanding young players will continue to move us forward as we prepare for Cheltenham and promotion to the Championship Section in 2019Jonathan Bates

Strong team

MD Jonathan Bates told 4BR: "We're building a strong team of talented players at Strata and the addition of these two outstanding young players will continue to move us forward as we prepare for Cheltenham and promotion to the Championship Section in 2019."