I began my life with Wellington (Telford) Brass Band in April 2022 after being asked by a friend, Jim Wall to stand in for a rehearsal. The rest as they say is history!
I was a chorister in my local church, St Mary’s in Bushbury and started playing piano at an early age on our home piano that we had been given. Yes, there were some missing notes and others that didn’t quite sound the same as the rest, but I could always hear what should have been there. I had piano lessons which along with my choral singing laid the foundations for the rest of my career in music.
I initially wanted to play the saxophone, but the school had run out of those, so ended up on Baritone before graduating onto Euphonium. Following the footsteps of my inspirational Euphonium teacher, Joe Morgan, I decided to join the Army and see the world! I enlisted in 1986 cutting my teeth with The Band of the Royal Hampshire Regiment. I gained further experience with the bands of The Royal Army Ordnance Corps and its successor the Royal Logistic Corps before being selected to attend The Student Bandmaster Course at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall in Twickenham in 1998. I graduated in 2001 and had stints as a BM with the King’s Division Waterloo Band in Catterick and the Prince of Wales’s Division (Clive) Band in Tern Hill. This was my first real taste of Shropshire and I decided then that I wanted to settle here, after my full-time career was over.
I commissioned to Captain in 2006 and moved to a number of bands including The Band of The Light Cavalry, The Band of The Adjutant General’s Corps. A posting to the Headquarters of the Corps of Army Music followed where I was appointed the Personnel Officer for over 800 musicians and oversaw the personnel and technical implementation of the reorganisation of Army Music, including the introduction of Brass Bands and Specialist Small Ensembles into a ‘new-style’ Army Music. A short tour with the Royal Armoured Corps Band followed before I was posted to The Band of HM Scots Guards. I served just under 3yrs with the Scots Guards, partaking in the Trooping of The Colour twice and numerous State and Ceremonial events, not least the centenary of the War Graves Commission in Westminster Abbey and the Royal formalities, with HM The Queen, at the start of the 2018 London Marathon, shown in 196 countries, to a worldwide TV audience of millions.
I retired from Regular Service in 2019 and took up my current position with The Band of The Mercian Regiment, a Reserve Army Band, back in my home town of Wolverhampton.
Since joining Wellington in 2022, we have come a very long way, From coming 15th in 2023 to coming 2nd in 2024 in the Regional Contest – a huge achievement!! And one everyone in the band should be immensely proud of. As I like to remind them, the baton doesn’t make a sound, they are entirely responsible for the sounds we make.
Long may the music making continue with my Wellington (Telford) Brass Band Family
Ian Johnson
Wellington (Telford) Brass Band Musical Director