THE
BANDMASTER
TEAM
Our large leadership team of volunteers are at the heart of our successful band. Coming from a variety of backgrounds and different careers they bring a great deal of experience and expertise to the band. To find out more about the Bandmasters please see below.
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PRINCIPAL DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
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Greg Walker
Greg has been a member of the Scout Association since he was six years old and joined the band in late 1999. He originally joined the clarinet section, as at the time he was too small to carry a side drum, before transferring to the percussion section in 2001. He has also often been found amongst the saxophone and brass sections. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Greg gained a BA(Hons) in Music from the University of Southampton, graduating with first class honours in Percussion performance, music technology and conducting.
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Greg took over as Director of Music in the summer of 2007 after being Deputy DoM for 2 ½ years, leading the band in rehearsals and engagements for 11 years, before taking on his new role of Principal Director of Music in 2018. He now oversees the leadership of the band and occasionally still conducts the band too.
Outside of the band, Greg is Assistant Group Scout Leader at the 14th Eastleigh Scout Group, and teaches for the award-winning Hampshire Music Service, where he is also a world music specialist and the in-house instrument technician and repairer.
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Greg also plays and conducts many other local professional and amateur bands, with regular performances with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and recent performances as guest percussionist with HM Band of the Royal Marines Portsmouth (Royal Band) and the Waterloo Band and Bugles of the Rifles. He is also Director of Music with the Band of the Hampshire Constabulary and Thornden Community Wind Band.
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DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
Nick Kimber
Nick's musical life started in the local church choir in Beddington, Surrey, aged about 10. Retiring from the Head Chorister role at 16, and subsequently moving away, he continued to tour with the choir as an adult, singing in most of the South's cathedrals including St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. In Southampton, Nick spent 10 years with the Operatic Society appearing in several productions at the Mayflower, Nuffield, and Buxton Opera House. He also sang with a small jazz choir "Dangerous Rhythm" who performed at a number of local venues, including the Turner Sims. Through school, Nick learned classical guitar, oboe and saxophone, the latter under leading jazz saxophonist Mark Lockheart. He played and toured with various youth bands, was principal alto saxophonist with the Sutton Schools Concert Band, and then with the Southampton University Wind Band. In more recent years, Nick has enjoyed playing in pit bands for several local musical societies.
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Moving up to Chandler's Ford, Nick discovered the Thornden Community Wind Band, and then joined the Spitfires with his daughter, Hannah, in the summer of 2011. Playing and marching was a new challenge! Nick is also a church bell-ringer and is currently President of the University ringers. In his day job he gets to drive model ships and submarines (no, really!) around Europe's largest indoor basin, in Gosport.
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Nick oversees the rehearsals of the Concert Band, Marching Band, Dance Band and Saxophone Quartet, alongside the day to day admin and bookings for the band. He strives on encouraging the younger players through their musical careers through motivation and enjoyment.
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BANDMASTER
Ian Cole
Ian is the longest serving member still in the band, joining as soon as he was able to, a year after the band was formed in 1969. Ian has always played side drum in the band, and occasionally still plays anything he can hit.
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Ian took over as Bandmaster in 1974 and has led the band through some hard times and some very good times since, leading the band to a BYBA National final win in 1992, and more recently parading in front of HM the Queen in Windsor Castle in 2012. Ian also holds the post of Group Scout Leader of the 14th Eastleigh Scout Group, and has recently taken retirement from a hectic job at BT, giving him more valuable time to spend with his young grandchildren.
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Ian oversees the support side of the band leadership.
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ASSISTANT BANDMASTER
& MERLINS
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Jane Montgomerie
Jane’s musical life began early; her mum can recall her singing in her cradle in the maternity unit shortly after being born!
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Jane has been playing the flute since she was 9 years old and was a member of Thornden Wind Band, Thornden Orchestra and the Southampton Flute Orchestra, Flautissimo. With her many musical extra-curricular activities, she actually decided not to study Music for GCSE! However, she continued to learn musical theory alongside practicing the flute and is proud to have gained her Grade VIII in 1995.
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She only joined the Guide Association in 1993, as a Ranger, after seeing her sister perform on stage at the Mayflower in the Guide show ‘Showtime’. Not long after, Jane performed in many Eastleigh Gang Shows and the subsequent Showtimes, singing and dancing on ‘Blue Peter’ as well as at the Mayflower. Eastleigh Gang Show played a significant part in Jane’s life. Not only did she meet other members of the Spitfires whilst performing, she also met her husband, Alex. Although when he first saw her, she was wearing a wig and beard!
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Jane has now spent over 20 years in Girlguiding, as a Ranger, Young Leader, Brownie Guider and Senior Section Leader. After gaining the Queen’s Guide Award in 2004, she finally felt she had some spare time to join the band and has been a devoted member ever since. However, she can now be found playing a tenor saxophone as well as the flute and piccolo.
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In her day job, Jane is a primary school teacher, which often involves her using her musical skills in numerous guises; whether it be leading singing assembly, teaching music lessons or rehearsing for the end of term productions.
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Jane oversees the running of the Merlins Training Band, helping to give members a 'step up' into the main Concert and Marching Band, alongside various administrative roles for the band.
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ASSISTANT BANDMASTER
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Emma Thompson
Emma began playing the clarinet at the age of 9 and subsequently joined the school wind bands at Junior School and Secondary School alongside the Eastleigh Area Schools Orchestra (EASO). She has been a member of the Guide Association throughout her life, from Rainbows to Rangers, and has been a member of the Scout Association since the age of 10, joining the Scout section, and later Explorers. Emma has played clarinet in the 14th Eastleigh Scout and Guide Band since joining in 2005, and has also been Assistant Drum Major for the band since 2013.
Emma is also in the Armed Forces, as a musician in the Waterloo Band and Bugles of The Rifles, a concert and marching Army Reserve band based in Abingdon; she also plays in the Thornden Community Wind Band, based in Chandler’s Ford. Away from music, Emma enjoys outdoor activities and extreme sports. In her day job, Emma works as an analyst for a cruise company, Carnival UK (P&O Cruises and Cunard) based in Southampton.
In her role as Assistant Bandmaster, Emma looks after the general administration and membership. Alongside this role, she also holds the post of Band Librarian overseeing the band’s vast music library, and looks after the band’s social media.
Josh has been involved in Scouting since 2009 when he joined as a Cub, and joined the band in 2011. It was on a trip to buy some uniform from the Scout Shop, which is housed within the 14th Eastleigh HQ, that Josh first heard the band. After a quick chat with the Director of Music, Josh brought his Trombone along the following week, and has been a keen member of the band ever since.
After initially joining the Trombone section, he became fixated on the drums and would often be caught tapping away during breaks in rehearsals. Director of Music at the time, Greg, took him under his wing and began teaching him drum kit alongside his Trombone. In a matter of months, Josh joined the Corps of Drums, initially having to stand on a milk crate to match the height of the other members! Josh soon settled in playing side drum in the marching band and was “I/C Corps of Drums”, looking after rehearsals, writing and arranging music for the Corps of Drums until 2019.
Josh is currently studying for a degree in Popular and Jazz Drums at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
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Josh assists the Director of Music with rehearsing the band and conducting the band on engagements.
DEPUTY
DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
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Josh Doyle
MERLINS ASSISTANT
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&
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN ​
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Emma Robinson
QUARTERMASTER
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Tim Beeching
SENIOR DRUM MAJOR
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Bradley Hill
