Soloist Spotlight: Helen Williams, Cory Band

Welcome to the latest in my 'Soloist Spotlight' series. This time I have caught up with Helen Williams, Flugel Horn player of The Cory Band, Deputy Registrar at the Brass Band Player's Registry and the latest artist to join Adam's Brass. In this interview, we discuss her earliest experiences as a cornet player in the North West, her landmark British Open victory and a decade and half at Fodens, before her cross country move to South Wales in 2015. 

Helen Williams 

Originally from Stockport, South Manchester, Helen was taught to play cornet at a young age by her Father. “I started to play a brass instrument because I wanted to go to band practice twice a week with my Dad. Dad was a cornet player for Poynton Band, so that's what I wanted to do too!” And Helen did just that, joining Poynton at the age of eleven and in doing so opening the doors for her future playing career. “I had lessons for a short time with the late, great Norman Ashcroft (a former principal cornet player with the Fairey Band), and Alan Lawton, also a cornet player with Fairey, but most importantly the conductor Poynton. My ultimate hero remains to this day, James Shepherd. I spent hours and hours listening to him play as a youngster and always tried to copy his style.” Helen had taken her first steps to success, and spent “ ten very happy years at Poynton, working my way up the cornet section. It was with Poynton that I had my first opportunity to play at the Royal Albert Hall at the Second Section National Finals in 1983. How scary is that? 40 years ago!!!

The next step on the journey came in 1986. “I was playing second man down at Poynton Band when I was invited to move to Marple Band as principal cornet in 1986. The band had just won the third section National Finals, so I was in two minds whether or not to accept the offer as Poynton were well established at the top of the second section. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, and thanks go to Marple’s conductor Garry Cutt for persuading me to join. It was here, that Helen made history, famously becoming the first, and still only, female principal cornet to win the British Open. “At the time the most important thing to me was that my band had won the British Open” she explains. “When I look back now, that win is just as amazing and is probably the most memorable event in my banding career. However, how ridiculous is it that I was, and am still the only female principal cornet player to do this?

The Fodens Band 

These days Helen is one of the most recognisable flugel horn players in the movement and this change of instrument came about three years after this famous day at The British Open. “I always wanted to play Flugel”, Helen explains”, but at my first two bands there was always someone occupying the Flugel seat and doing a fantastic job at it. My success on the cornet came through my determination to be the best player I could be (despite the glass ceiling imposed upon my because of my gender), and because there was no opportunity to play Flugel at my band. I think that after thirteen years as principal cornet at Marple, no one actually thought I wanted to do anything any different. In 1999 I mentioned to some friends who played at Fodens that I might be up for a change. Within 24 hours Nick Childs was on the phone offering me the Flugel seat. I practically snapped his hand off! This phone call started a fifteen year association with the Cheshire band and brought many highlights. “I had a fantastic time at Fodens with so many highlights it is hard to single anything out. Obviously contest wins stick in the memory, like the Open win in 2004 and the epic Double (Open and Nationals) in 2012, but despite being one of the top, top bands, Fodens were my band family just as Poynton and Marple had been before. I have a huge soft spot still for all three of those bands.

The Cory Band 

2015 brought big changes for Helen, when she and her husband Glyn made the move from Fodens to Cory, moving across the country to South Wales in the process. It was a big decision musically, and personally. Helen explains that “I toured Australia with Cory as a guest in 2013 and so already had a connection. In 2015 both myself and my husband Glyn were asked to help Cory at the European Championships in Germany. We loved our time with the band and were absolutely blown away by the standard, so when we were asked if we would consider joining it required some serious thought. It meant relocating….everything. I had never lived more than 45 minutes away from my parents or my grown up children, I would need to find new employment and we needed accommodation. Not to mention leaving our Fodens Band family. It was a really tough decision, one that we didn’t make lightly, but sometimes in life you just have to go for it! I don’t think anyone would disagree that this has proved to be the correct decision as Helen, and Glyn, has enjoyed incredible amount of success since joining Cory. “We haven’t really looked back since joining Cory and moving to South Wales” Helen says. “The success is not just a given and there is a lot of hard work goes on to help make it happen, but I absolutely believe that being in this band has improved my playing and extended my playing career much more than I could have anticipated. It sounds cheesy, but after two Grand Slams and countless other contest wins I can certainly say I have been living my dream for the last eight years. I’ve toured America twice, been all over Europe and had the opportunity to tour South Korea, all concerts performing some amazing music. As well as the phenomenal amount of contest wins, “I have had the chance to perform some brilliant music with Cory (usually courtesy of Mr Harper) and had the opportunity to play to even wider audiences. A highlight for me is hearing back that my music has made a connection with individuals…that is why we play!

The Brass Band Player's Registry

The move to South Wales necessitated more change than just one of band jackets, and Helen had to find new employment and took up a role at the Brass Band Player's Registry based in Penarth. “I have worked as Deputy Registrar at the Brass Band Players Registry since I moved to South Wales” she explains. “It was a vacancy that just happened to come up at that time, and with my background in admin (I was a civil servant for about fifteen years back in the day) and having been contest secretary for Marple Band, Fodens Band and Marsden Band in the past, it was quite an easy role to slip into".

So, what does a ‘normal day’ at the registry look like? “I’m not sure there is a ‘normal’ day at the Registry! We are basically just always reacting to the needs of the band who are registered with us. Now into February, “things start getting busy as players start to move about in readiness for the Regional Contests. Things go a little bonkers for us as deadline days for registrations approach from the end of February through to the end of March with mountains of post and emails, not to mention phone call queries too”. The team will be hard pressed as “there are just the two of us in the office dealing with all the contesting bands in England and Wales…and I work part time!” Despite this though, Helen is positive and does what she can to ensure she can respond to everyone who contacts the Registry. “Because of my past involvement as contest secretary of bands I think I’m well positioned to be fair when working at the Registry. I try to be as helpful as possible because I know it's a thankless task being a contest secretary. The rules and regulations are there for a reason, and I do believe we need them…even if they don’t always make life easy for bands!

Adams Brass

On 1st February, it was announced that Helen would be the latest player to join Adams Brass as an artist having previously worked with Courtois. How did this change come about? “I accompanied Glyn on a visit to the Adams factory in the Netherlands, about this time last year, as he was choosing a custom instrument for himself,” Helen explains. “Whilst I was there it was a no-brainer for me to try some of their Flugel models. I was super impressed by how keen they were to try and find what suited me, and indeed to make tweaks and alterations to the instruments whilst I was there, nothing was too much trouble. For Adams, I gave them an insight into what a brass band Flugelhorn player would be looking for in an instrument. A subsequent visit later in 2023 led to a few more tweaks and then I had the opportunity to try the instrument out in the band. I fell in love with it and have played it ever since. Adams will be releasing the exact spec of my instrument soon and any interested players will be able to try the same custom model”.

A Bit of Fun

Editors note: I didn't include this segment on my last interview with composer Fendall Hill. To my surprise, I have had feedback asking me to include it again and so, by popular demand, here's Helen's answers: 

If you could play any non-brass instrument, what would it be and why?

I would love to be able to play the piano.

If you had the power to erase one piece of music from every brass band library what would it be and why?

I wouldn’t get rid of anything. Obviously there are some pieces I like more than others, but it is the diversity of what brass bands play that makes them what they are…you take the rough with the smooth!

If you were on Desert Island Discs what would your five recordings, one book and one luxury item be and why?

I’m not hesitating in saying that my luxury item would have to be a Ninja Air fryer. We bought one in the Black Friday sales this year and it has been a revelation.

As for a book, probably something by Dan Brown. I love all his conspiracy theories, all totally  believable and plausible.

Recordings would mainly be for nostalgia’s sake, things that I can tell my grandson that I’ve done!

• Poynton Plays Volume One - the first LP (yes it was a long time ago!) that I was a part of with Poynton Band
• Honest Toil - the first CD recording by Marple Band,
• Masquerade - a CD of major works recorded by Fodens, 
• Storytelling - a CD recording which included music from Cory’s Brass in Concert programme 2016 which is probably my favourite
• Finally some kind of 80’s Greatest Hits compilation album - the best music from the era when I knew all the lyrics to songs.