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Back Row Cornets

Robert Domingue

Soprano Cornet

Robert was born in Colchester, Essex and began playing the trumpet at the age of 8. Since then Robert has won the Colchester Rotary Club Musician of the year, the Philip Jones Brass Prize and the Colchester Institute brass prize. Robert has played with many local orchestras including Essex Youth Orchestra and Colchester Symphony Orchestra of whom he has also performed concertos with.

Robert has studied at the Trinity College of Music under Brian Thomson and Bob Farley and successfully obtained a degree with First Class Honours. During his time at Trinity, Robert has taken part in many projects including playing in various orchestra’s and brass ensembles such as Trinity Brass ensemble and SE10 Brass ensemble.

Robert was a founding member of Full Fathom5 brass quintet with performed at many venues across London and worked on many professional educational workshops. Some of the workshops Robert has help lead include ‘Cloud gate’ and ‘Play it again’ projects with the BBC Symphony orchestra, ‘Sketches of Spain’ project with ‘Superbrass’ (leading brass ensemble from the RPO) and ‘Haydn in the House’ with the LPO.

Robert currently plays with many orchestras around London including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, London Contemporary Orchestra, the Orion Symphony Orchestra, Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra and held the position of Principal trumpet of The World Youth Orchestra. Robert has also played for bands such as Shed7 and Belle and Sebastian and had the great honour to perform for royalty including the Queen in 2007.

Robert recently studied at the Royal Academy of Music after accepting a scholarship for a Master in Arts, under Mark david, Rod Franks and James Watson. His brass band experience includes playing soprano cornet for Aveley and Newham and helping many bands such as Redbridge Brass, GUS Band and Desford Colliery.  In February 2009, Robert won the ‘Best Soprano’ in the Yeovil Entertainment competition whilst playing with Aveley and Newham Brass Band.

Rolf Jones was born in a small village in South Wales called Pontarddulais. It had and still has a very musical tradition with a famous male voice choir, a mixed voice choir and a brass band. Rolf joined the band at eight years of age and played the flugel horn for about seven years before switching to the cornet. He continued with the band until he left to study pharmacy at Bath University. After leaving Bath, Rolf moved to Swindon to take up a position with Boots Chemists and spent the next seven years managing branches in Wiltshire. Throughout this period he played with the British Rail Band (now re-named Pegasus) and had a great time musically and socially.

After leaving Swindon, Rolf's pharmacy career took him to Essex and it was there that he was approached to join the then Aveley Band, where he has played for the last twenty years.

The highlights of his musical career are too numerous to list but the pinnacle of these must include achieving seventh position at the National Finals in 2000 playing Peter Graham's ‘Harrison's Dream’ and winning the Grand Shield at Blackpool playing Whitsun Wakes by Michael Ball with the Aveley and Newham brass band.

Rolf Jones

Rhys started playing the cornet at the age of five, but was attending band events much earlier in life in the pushchair next to his Mum. After a spell on solo cornet at Tilbury band Rhys joined Thundersley on the front row becoming the youngest player in the band, and a featured soloist at the age of 11. With Thundersley he attended the national championship contest in Harrogate. At the age of 13 he passed Grade eight with distinction. He then followed his sister’s footsteps (herself a former Aveley player) and now studies at the Junior Guildhall School Of Music. Rhys is a frequent winner of solo competitions such as the Thurrock Arts Council competition, the SCABA under fourteen ‘Soloist of the Year 2008’, the ‘Thurrock Brass Musician of the Year 2008’ and the ‘Basildon Young Musician of the Year 2008’.

He joined the Aveley and Newham Brass Band in July 2008, and became the third member of his family to have played with the band, his mum Sue was the band’s flugel soloist, and his sister Lauren played cornet.

Rhys Cave

Second Cornet

Sarah White

Sue Cave

Sue was introduced to the strange world of banding in 1976, joining Castle Point band on cornet. She became a founder member of Thundersley Brass on flugel horn and principal cornet, and won numerous prizes at the London & Southern Counties solo competitions.

At 17 she accepted an invitation to join the Aveley band on flugel, and stayed with the band until 1987. After spells at Thurrock Spectrum Brass and Tilbury, Sue returned to Thundersley, along with son Rhys on solo cornet and, eventually, daughter Lauren on principal cornet. Sue enjoyed much success with the band and was regularly featured as flugel soloist on concert programmes. Having taken time out of banding for a few months Sue was snapped up to play repiano cornet and flugel for the Clacton Co-operative band in 2008. She joined Aveley & Newham in January 2009, returning to her banding roots.

Sue loves banding, particularly now that she can enjoy it with her family. She has 4 children, two of whom have already played for Aveley & Newham. In her spare time she works in I.T! She loves gardening, and trying to force the cornet on two young toddlers!