Malcolm started playing the Flugel horn at age 10 when he joined Gillingham Town Band, Dorset where his Brother was already a player. Having discovered a love for music, Malcolm then joined the army at age 15 as a junior musician. He enrolled at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall at age 17 and went on to have a 23 year career in military music. He then continued to play in both Brass and Wind Bands around the world.
He learned his conducting skills whilst in the military and continued to conduct in the pit for around 40 shows in amateur theatre productions in Devon. He also continued as a player on cornet during this time, playing with brass bands of all levels up to championship section.
Since moving to the Midlands 7 years ago, he found an interest in community brass bands and has been most recently conducting Lea Hall Brass Band and playing soprano cornet with Coleshill Town Band.
” I am excited for the future as Musical Director of Coleshill Town Band. They are a great team of enthusiastic people with an inspiring youth programme. I am looking forward to being part of the Coleshill Town Band organisation and working together to develop the band. “
Stephen began playing the trumpet at the age of ten, encouraged by his father, himself a cornet player. Stephen soon followed his father and grandfather by becoming a member of the Hythe Town Military Band, playing in the junior band before moving on to a member of the senior band where he soon progressed to 1st Bb cornet.
His first experiences in the world of brass banding came when, as a cornet player, he became principal cornet of the Kent Music School Brass Band. Soon, he also moved on from the Hythe Town Military Band (a wind band) to the Folkestone Silver Band, a brass band under the musical direction of Mr Joseph Smith. Joe became Stephen’s cornet teacher and the biggest influence on his musical career as he helped Stephen attain ABRSM grade 8 on Bb Cornet and also win a number of solo competitions and music festivals. Stephen’s greatest instrumental achievement was coming 5th in the ‘Alexander Owen Memorial Scholarship’ in 1991, a competition Joe himself had won in 1932. With Joe’s help, Stephen soon moved on to become principal cornet of the City of Canterbury Band and also became the deputy conductor of the band.
In 1991, on the completion of his A-levels, Stephen left his hometown of Folkestone, Kent to move to Birmingham to study music at the Birmingham Conservatoire.
At the Conservatoire, he studied the cornet under international cornet virtuoso Phillip McCann before continuing his studies with Dennis Masters LTCL, a popular and successful teacher / conductor / adjudicator in brass banding in the Midlands. Dennis soon introduced Stephen to the Langley Band, a first section brass band based in the Black Country. In 5 years with the Langley Band, he progressed through the cornet section to become principal cornet, an assistant conductor of the band and also musical director of the Langley Youth Brass Band.
In 1996, Stephen moved on from his post as musical director of the Langley Youth Brass Band to become musical director of the Coleshill Town Band.
By this time in his playing career, Stephen had left the Langley Brass Band to take up the principal cornet chair at the Amington Brass Band. However, due to increasing demands on him as a conductor, he temporarily ‘retired’ from full time playing in bands, although did return to regular playing for six months in 2002 to help out the City of Birmingham Brass Band on solo cornet.
Another significant achievement was, in 2004, the founding of Coleshill Youth Brass and then, two years later, creating Coleshill Beginner Brass as a feeder band. Stephen has led the bands since their inception and has inspired them to become the most successful youth set-up in the Midlands. Leading both bands to many contest and festival wins, producing sell-out concerts and encouraging well-over 200 young people to play a brass instrument.
In 2016, after becoming the longest serving Musical Director in the band’s history, Stephen retired from the position as Musical Director of the Coleshill Town Band to enable him to focus on the now flourishing Coleshill Youth Band and Coleshill Beginner Band.