Musical Director

Alex Francis 

Alex, encouraged by his family and primary school, began to play the cornet at the age of 9 and received lessons through Rotherham Schools Music Service. In his younger years he was an active member of all music service activities as well as playing in his school band and his local village band, Thorpe Hesley Village Brass Band.

By the time he was 15 he progressed to become principal cornet of Rotherham Schools Youth Brass Band and joined Wards Brewery Band as assistant principal cornet. After gaining his A-Levels he was delighted to accept an offer to study at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and studied cornet / trumpet with Roger Webster and John Miller. The RNCM provided many incredible and valuable performance experiences playing in various ensembles in a variety of concerts, festivals and recordings.

Brass banding experience came through a short spell at Carlton Main Frickley Colliery and then Stockport based BT Band as Principal cornet, before he reached his life’s ambition in 2002 by becoming a second-generation member of the ‘World Famous’ Brighouse & Rastrick Band. He held the Repiano cornet position with pride for many years and enjoyed numerous successes both on the contest and concert stage.

He also played lead Trumpet for the popular Yorkshire based soul band ‘The Soul Jam’ for over 10 years, as well as performing with brass ensembles such as Made to Measure Brass.

Alex gained a PGCE from the University of Huddersfield after graduating from the RNCM and has successfully worked as both a classroom and instrumental music teacher at all key stages. Alex is Lead Officer for Barnsley Music Service and a member of the consortium leadership team for South Yorkshire Music Hub.

Alex has had many successes as a musical director for both Barnsley Wind Bands and Barnsley Metropolitan Band, including winning the 3rd and 4th section Yorkshire Regional Area Brass Band Championships multiple times and helping the band qualify for the National Finals six times. Through his work for the music service and his passion for instrumental music education, Alex has taken a keen interest in composing and arranging for junior ensembles and has produced a number of successful works which have been performed at major events.