AT 19, Nicholas Eastwood is thought to be one of the youngest conductors in the world of brass bands.
He is currently breathing new energy and enthusiasm into the Yorkshire Traction and Honley Brass Band and both he and the band seem to be loving every minute of it.
Nicholas is studying for a music degree at the University of Huddersfield and sees his future in teaching.
It is clearly a way in which he sees himself being able to share his passion for music and in particular for brass bands.
That enthusiasm for banding is perhaps rooted in his grandparents. His grandfather Terry Eastwood played with the old Rowntree band in York and his grandmother Edna is also a brass band player.
Such is the family’s commitment to banding that Nicholas’s younger brother Jack has been recruited to play with Honley when he can.
Jack is just 15 and plays solo cornet. He’ll be joined for some events by grandmother Edna who also still enjoys playing cornet.
But banding hasn’t always been Nicholas’s first love. “I was a pianist for a lot of years. I started that when I was about three,” he said.
But the family involvement in brass banding clearly had an effect and these days Nicholas plays trombone in the Shepherd Group’s senior band.
“I wanted to come to the University of Huddersfield because of its music department but also because of the brass band tradition in the area.
“You only have to go a mile and you have found another brass band.
“For me it was just a chance to play in a band. I just enjoy brass banding.”
“My grandfather was in the same band that I’m in now in York but then it was the Rowntree band.
“He used to play all sorts of instruments. When he was in the Army he played trumpet and in civilian life, but he played tuba in the band.”
“My grandmother does still play cornet and I think she will be coming to help out at Honley for concerts and events if we need her.
“I persuaded Jack to come and play at Honley and he really enjoys it.”
Nicholas got the conductor’s job after band officials asked the university’s music department if any of its students would help out while they looked for a new conductor.
“I said that I would go but after three weeks as a stand-in at rehearsals while they looked for a permanent conductor, they offered me the job.
“I’m in my second year at university and conducting is my main subject. I can’t help but feel that some people must have felt anxious about having someone so young conducting.
“But the band have been really welcoming and really accepting of me.
“I hope to help them to raise the profile of the band and to help to recruit some more younger players.”
The band’s youngest player is Sam Teale, who is just 10. He’s been tutored by one of the band’s senior players and enjoys rehearsals.
“What I can bring to the band is enthusiasm. I want to raise awareness of the band in the village and to get still more involved in local events,” said Nicholas.
“We’d like to recruit some new people and it is particularly in the cornet section that we could do with more players.
“Generally I want to continue building on the quality of the band and to help them to improve. I think we are a lot more secure than we were.
“I just want to carry on in that vein and gradually it will bring more players in and the band will grow.”
Rehearsals are held in the bandroom in Berrycroft, Honley every Monday night and Nicholas would welcome new or established players.
He and young player Sam are proof that banding remains popular across the generations.
Honley’s musicians are looking forward to concerts in Dewsbury on November 8 and in Kirkheaton on December 12. They will also play at the Christmas Tree festival on December 5 in their home village of Honley.
