Graham Drury

Graham started his musical development at primary school, aged 8 where he was given a baritone. Quickly deciding the baritone wasn`t for him within a few weeks he swapped to cornet and was soon playing with his local band, Maltby Miners Welfare band where he stayed until he was 15 occupying various seats in the cornet section. At the same time up until the age of 17 he was playing with the Rotherham Schools Youth Brass Band, again in a variety of positions, during which time he was able to go with the band on their tour of Austria.

In 1993 Graham relocated attending The University of Hull to study chemistry and stayed an extra year to complete his PGCE. Whilst at University, Graham joined the Cottingham Band and on the 7^th of July 1994 at 7:45pm he moved onto the soprano cornet chair a decision he describes as “one of the best decisions I have ever made”. Graham remained with the band until December 2002 as the band rose from the 4^th to championship section, winning several area titles on the way, and his first Royal Albert Hall visit for the finals in 2000.

In January of 2003 Graham accepted an invitation to join The East Yorkshire Motor Services Band on soprano cornet. In his first area competition with the band on Prague, the band qualified for the National finals in London and won several individual prizes including Best Soprano Cornet. In 2004, the band again qualified for the finals at the RAH a performance crowned by a mobile phone going off during the very quiet ending. This move also gave Graham his first taste of competing in the Grand Shield, which despite his misgivings about Blackpool is a competition he really enjoys. During his stay with EYMS he was also able to “tick off” a performance at the All-England masters in Cambridge. 

In January of 2005, Graham began teaching in and relocated to Doncaster but stayed with the band until after the spring festival when unfortunately, a medical condition enforced a break from playing altogether.

In 2006 he started playing again and joined the Thoresby Colliery Band again on his favoured soprano cornet seat. Graham remained with Thoresby (with a couple of brief breaks after disagreements with conductors) until 2019 qualifying for the national finals on 3 more occasions and again experiencing the Grand Shield and the Masters.

Leaving Thoresby in September of 2019 he joined the Crofton Silver band, gaining his first experience of the Yorkshire championship section area competition. Unfortunately, his time at Crofton was interrupted by the corona virus pandemic.

In January 2022 Graham was again invited to take up the soprano cornet seat at the City of Hull Band and seized the opportunity. Graham is looking forward to many more successes with the band including best soprano cornet at the area competition!