B&R are delighted to announce that Stephen Howes has accepted the invitation to become the President of the world-famous Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Stephen is a previous playing member of B&R, having first joined on second cornet in 1970 at the age of 15. After 2 years, Stephen moved to the horn section firstly on Second Horn before working his way up onto First Horn and then onto Solo Horn at the age of 20. Stephen remained the band’s solo horn player for 13 years, before deciding to take a break from playing as he was also the Band Chairman, a position Stephen held for 7 years.
In 1995 Stephen re-joined the horn section on First Horn and stayed for another 5 years before eventually retiring from playing in 2000. Asa playing member of the band, Stephen has achieved 4 National Wins, 2 European Wins and 1 British Open win. He was also a member of the famous Floral Dance Band.
Since retiring from playing, Stephen has continued to dedicate a huge amount of time and support to the band. Stephen has served as Chair of Trustees since 2000, and he also re-joined the band’s General Committee in 2017. Commenting on his new role as President, Stephen commented,
“B&R has always been an important part of my life and to be invited to be Band President is a tremendous honour which I am very pleased to accept.”
Band Chairman, Ste Cavanagh added,
“We’re absolutely thrilled Stephen has accepted our invitation to become our Band President. Stephen epitomises what it means to be a part of the B&R family, has loyally served the band for 50 years, and is hugely respected by everyone within this great organisation. I’m personally very grateful for the fantastic support Stephen continues to offer me in my role, and I know he will do a fantastic job as B&R President.”