About

Instrument: Geneva Oldroyd Cardinal Eb Tenor Horn (Silver) 

Mouthpiece: Randefalk R2

Originally from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, Siobhan began playing the horn at an early age in local Music Centre groups. At age 10, she received a scholarship to the Birmingham Junior Conservatoire to study French Horn and Voice. During her time there, she quickly advanced to become the Principal Horn in the Symphony and Wind Orchestras, as well as their Brass Ensemble.

Alongside her French Horn playing, Siobhan started playing Tenor Horn with the Gresley Colliery Band. By age 13, she became the LBBA Junior Solo Champion. At 15, she secured the Solo Horn position with Gresley and also joined Youth Brass 2000 under the direction of Chris Jeans. At this point, she decided to focus primarily on the Tenor Horn.

Her progression continued as she joined Foresters Brass on Solo Horn. In 2015, after competing at the European Brass Band Championships in Freiburg with Youth Brass 2000, she was approached by Garry Cutt and became the Solo Horn with the Fairey Band.

In May 2016, Siobhan traveled to the European Brass Band Championships in Lille with Youth Brass 2000, where she was awarded the Best Soloist prize for her performance of Sandy Smith’s arrangement of “Capriccio Brilliante.” Shortly afterward, Professor Nicholas Childs invited her to join the Black Dyke Band as Solo Horn. At 18, she received the Best Soloist Award at the Yorkshire Area contest during her first year with the band.

In March 2019, Siobhan competed in the BrassPass.TV Young Brass Award (previously the Radio 2 Young Brass Award) and, at 20 years old, became the inaugural winner under its new ownership.

Siobhan graduated from the University of Huddersfield with a first-class Honours Degree in Solo Performance in 2020. She has since completed her PGCE in Primary Education and is currently a Year 2 Primary School Teacher at a school in Halifax.