"The finest brass band in London & the Southern Counties"
in association with
(Registered Charity no. 1137290)
Horns
Flugelhorn
Lauren Straker
Lauren started playing the cornet at the age of seven and took part in her first ‘Area contest' at the age of 8, with Tilbury Band. She went on to make her Principal Cornet contest debut at aged ten, playing Indian Summer with Thurrock Spectrum Brass. At the age of twelve Lauren became the youngest ever winner of Thurrock Musician of the Year, and began studying trumpet and piano at the Junior Guildhall School of Music. In 2004 Lauren was promoted to Principal Cornet of the Junior Guildhall Brass Band, which she maintained for her two remaining years at Guildhall, and was awarded the coveted ‘Brass Prize’ in her final year. Studying at Junior Guildhall provided many memorable experiences for Lauren, including winning Music for Youth after performing Year of the Dragon on Principal Cornet at Birmingham Symphony Hall.
Lauren joined Thundersley Brass as Principal Cornet in 2006, having spent some time previously playing cornet at Aveley and Newham Band, and flugel with Clacton-on-Sea Co-op Band. Lauren joined Friary in 2008 to spend more time with her future husband, Richard. Lauren held various positions in the cornet section before moving to flugel in 2012. As well as being the Band’s Secretary, she is a regular soloist with the Band, and also enjoys competing at solo competitions which has seen her crowned the Southern Counties Slow Melody Champion in 2010 and 2014. Lauren’s fondest banding moment was stepping on the Royal Albert Hall stage for the first time in 2013, and then getting to repeat this in 2014 - although only just making it, after having her appendix removed five days beforehand.
Lauren’s claim to fame is being asked to dep on flugel for Grimethorpe in 2008, but having to turn down the opportunity due to a Friary engagement. Lauren comes from a musical family, with her Mum playing horn, her eldest Brother, Rhys, playing flugelhorn, and her younger Brother and Sister playing for NEHASB and Cove Brass. Away from the band room, Lauren is a busy mum of 2 children and works in Internal Communications.
2nd Horn
Nick Krebs
Owen Farr, renowned tenor horn soloist: “If you were good you were put on cornet or euphonium, if you were big you were given a tuba, and if you were completely useless you were put on horn.”
Nick plays Second Horn. He knows his place.
Nick’s foray into banding began on cornet with Briton Ferry Silver and has spluttered along via Grimsdyke, Epsom, Pangbourne, Epsom (again) and Capital Concert Brass from whence he arrived at Friary in 2007. It was during his second stint at Epsom that he was reassigned to horn, ostensibly to fill a vacancy, although in reality more likely a damage-limitation ploy. While at Friary Nick has played in both the National First Section (2010) and Senior Trophy (2014) victories, and has also been privileged to appear in all seven of Friary’s consecutive Royal Albert Hall Finals from 2013, although whether the adjudicators felt similarly privileged is less certain. Other performing highlights include a concert audience of zero and the opening of a public lavatory.
Nick spent many years as a teacher of geography and geology, and is now a map curator with one of our national collections. When not tormenting unsuspecting band audiences, he can be found salivating over old maps or shivering on the terraces of various decaying non-league football grounds, languishing in the latest misfortunes of Wealdstone FC.
Nick lives in his own little world near Horsham, Sussex. He has a son, three tortoises, seven hundred Ordnance Survey maps and, much to his neighbours’ continued disappointment, a tenor horn.
Roger Webster, cornet virtuoso, on being given his first instrument: “It wasn’t a cornet, it was a tenor horn. I wasn’t impressed.” He gave it back the following week.
Solo Horn
Chris Pannell
Chris hails from a family who are no strangers to brass bands so it was no surprise that by the age of four he was playing the cornet, moving onto horn by the time he was seven. He joined the National Youth Brass Band when he was twelve where he held the Solo Horn seat for eight courses. In 2003 Chris was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year and joined the Fairey Band where he played until moving to Australia in 2008 for two years. Upon returning to the UK, Chris played for Hawthorn Band and Hammonds Saltaire before joining Friary in 2016.
Away from band, Chris is a civil engineer specialising in railway design and enjoys playing golf and food & drink.
1st Horn
Kelly Harrison
Kelly hails from the north eastern Colliery community and moved to Essex as a child. She started tenor horn age 6 and began her brass banding journey with Billericay Silver Band age 7 moving to Southend Band at age 11. As a youngster she accrued much success in the London & Home Counties solo competitions competing with the likes of Philip Harper and was runner up in the coveted Audi Young Musician of the Year.
Kelly went on to win a full scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music Junior Department in London, which she attended for 5 years and it was during this time that Kelly joined the ranks of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain where she became principal horn. At NYBB she was privileged to work under the late Bramwell Tovey, Roy Newsome and Richard Evans. Simultaneously a member of Young Ambassadors Brass Band of Great Britain and Youth Brass 2000.
Kelly is an honours graduate from the Royal College of Music where she studied French Horn, Baroque Horn, Piano and composition. Classical studies lead to regular pit work and stints at Kensington Symphony Orchestra, Gurnsey Symphony Orchestra and subsequently local freelance work. Whilst at the RCM she attained a Licentiate of The Guildhall School (LGSM) on Tenor Horn. Most notably, during her time at the RCM Kelly was part of a task force to raise awareness of brass banding in the London Colleges of Music in partnership with Grimethorpe Colliery Band which ultimately gave rise to the band now known as Zone One Brass.
Over the years Kelly has accrued an abundance of banding experience; she is firm friends with local bands Tilbury, Epping and Fulham and is often seen helping out on stage or at rehearsals. Kelly has also guested further afield with Foresters, Leyland and Cory, to name but a few.
Part of the team for years at a time with Welsh band Parc & Dare, Desford Colliery, Zone One Brass, Redbridge Brass, Kelly subsequently won the Grand Shield with Aveley & Newham and came 2nd at the French Open; playing on big stages at most major contests.
Most recently, for many years, Kelly was secretary and solo horn for her local band Thundersley Brass Band and her proudest moment at this tenure was National Finals appearance in 2018 at the Royal Albert Hall.
Currently, Kelly is Head of a thriving Music Department at Belfairs Academy in Essex where she has been musical director of shows including Grease and Les Miserables.
Away from music Kelly is proud mum to Lou and Eythan and is an amateur runner, covering around 100k a month.