Friary Diary - Issue 139 - September 2026
Welcome to Friary Diary issue 139 - a monthly round up of news about the Friary Brass Band.
WELCOME TO TWO NEW ARRIVALS:
With eyes on a return to the National Finals next year, Friary has further strengthened its ranks with the signing of Alice Godfrey on repiano cornet and Tom Steer on solo Eb bass. The couple married this June.
Originally from Norwich, Alice is a trumpet graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music. She has played with some of the country’s top bands including Grimethorpe and Brighouse & Rastrick and performed the Arutunian trumpet concerto with the Mozart Orchestra. A member of Fulham Brass Band for nine years including seven years as principal cornet, Alice helped the band secure promotion to the Championship in 2019 and won the Derek Stillwell Best Cornet award as part of the band’s winning performance at the 1st Section Areas in 2026.
Alice is passionate about diversifying brass band repertoire by featuring more music by underrepresented composers, particularly women, and by day is Senior Gallery Events Manager at the National Gallery in London.
“Having performed with the band at the Grand Shield in May and seen the progress made under the new MD, I’m delighted to be joining full time,’ enthused Alice. “It’s great being pushed by the standard and repertoire while also being warmly welcomed by the band, and I am looking to forward to helping the band succeed, especially at the London and Southern Counties area contest which I have been competing in since I was 15!” she added.
Growing up in southeast London, Tom was a long-time member and short-time principal Eb bass of the National Youth Brass Band. He attended Junior Guildhall and then remained at Guildhall to complete his BMus under Patrick Harrild, before, as Tom put it, “retiring from the tuba to pursue a career with better prospects for me.” Tom was also a member of Fulham Brass Band, for seven years which included a long stint as Band Co-Manager. Tom is a programme manager in the Civil Service and achieved his MBA in 2026.
“I’m delighted to be joining Friary after first helping the band at Whit Friday aged 17,” said Tom. “ I’m looking forward to leading the bass section and being reunited with old friends. Most of all, I’m privileged to be joining a band with my incredible wife Alice,” he concluded.
Friary Chairman Andy Singleton commented: “Having known both Alice and Tom for a while, we are immensely privileged to welcome two such talented players to Friary and look forward to the contribution they will undoubtedly make to the band.”
His comments were echoed by Friary Musical Director Captain Andrew Porter: “I am delighted to welcome Tom and Alice into Friary Brass Band. They are both top quality musicians and are brilliant people to have around the band room. It has been amazing having them both in rehearsal through the summer and I look forward to working with them toward our future performances.”
NATIONAL FINALS:
Sadly, we didn’t qualify for this year’s National Finals held last Saturday although our solo horn player, Morgan Marston was on stage deputising at Sandhurst who were making their Royal Albert Hall debut. Congratulations to them for a highly creditable performance, summarised by banding website 4barsrest as having performed with merit against a strong field of rivals. Coincidentally, their 17th place was identical to Friary’s on our first appearance at the National Finals. Congratulations also to our friends at Cory, who, after some lean years, took the title, with Aldbourne (conducted by former Cory principal euphonium Glyn Williams) runners up and Foden’s completing the podium places. Here’s to a return to the RAH for Friary next year …
AND TALKING OF THE NATIONAL FINALS...:
The other week I was searching on the internet for some Friary videos when I happened upon a reference to the results of the 1936 National Finals, held at Crystal Palace. Playing the test piece Kenilworth, by Sir Arthur Bliss and drawn 15 out of 24 bands, Friary Guildford came third, behind Foden’s Motor Works and Black Dyke Mills. I’d heard this before but had never managed to substantiate the claim. This was of course one of Friary’s previous incarnations, our current band only being formed in 1983, but we’ll claim it as part of the Friary heritage! The following year saw Friary slip to seventh, before disappearing from the Nationals. I must investigate results from the lower sections to see if there are any further mentions. As far as Foden’s are concerned, the 1930’s were a particularly purple patch for them with no fewer than seven wins out of nine between 1930 and 1938: what a record. Maybe in 2036 we could be up on the podium again…?
RANKING NEWS:
4barsrest.com eventually updated their world rankings table on 30th September with Friary dropping to 63rd. Brassstats.com’s update on 1st September saw us rise two places to 40th.
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