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Roy Bilham started playing the cornet with Rowntree’s Brass Band in York at the age of 13. At 20, he joined the Royal Artillery Band, the oldest and most prestigious army band in Great Britain where he
became Band Sergeant Major, Deputy Bandmaster, Principal Cornet of the wind band and Principal Trumpet of the orchestra. Roy studied with: John Wallace - then Principal Trumpet of the Philharmonia Orchestra with
whom he gained his ARCM and also with Howard Snell of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Peter Reeves of the Royal Opera Covent Garden Orchestra, Michael Hinton of the English National Opera Orchestra and Jack
Mackintosh at the RMSM Kneller Hall. On retiring from the RA Band in 1987 he has worked as a busy freelance trumpet player with many leading London Orchestras, most notably the Philharmonia with whom he has
performed in many of the major concert halls in Europe, Japan and the East Coast of the USA. Roy has toured with the Bolshi, Moscow Classical, Canadian and English National Ballet companies. He has performed with
the internationally famous brass ensemble, The Wallace Collection from 1987 and from 1991, until the end of 2001, he was the General Manager with the help of his long suffering wife, Pam. With The Wallace
Collection, Roy has performed in all corners of the planet for concerts, master classes, British Council tours and recitals. In 1987, Roy formed his own brass ensemble, fanfare team and dixie band, ‘Thames Fanfare
Brass’. Christmas 1999 saw the release of the first of many planned solo albums, named ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’. In 2002, Thames Fanfare Brass released their first ensemble album. Roy is currently working on
further solo and ensemble albums.
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