{"id":3346,"date":"2026-06-18T13:50:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T13:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/?p=3346"},"modified":"2026-06-18T16:30:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:30:30","slug":"st-albans-city-band-welcomes-new-musical-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/st-albans-city-band-welcomes-new-musical-director\/","title":{"rendered":"St Albans City Band welcomes new Musical Director"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

St Albans City Band is delighted to announce that Will Watson BMus (Hons), ARAM, LRAM has been appointed to the role of Musical Director, St Albans City Band<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A significant influence on Will’s musical development was his father, James Watson, one of the most respected figures in the brass world, who enjoyed highly successful tenures as Musical Director of both Desford Colliery Band and Black Dyke Mills Band. Exposure to these world-class ensembles provided Will with an exceptional musical education from an early age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1995, Will gained a place at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, where he studied trumpet with distinguished performers including Rod Franks, John Wallace and Ian Balmain. Alongside his performance studies, he also studied conducting under Colin Metters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following graduation, Will pursued a successful freelance career in London, performing with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. His professional playing career culminated in a trial for the position of Principal Trumpet with Birmingham Royal Ballet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2002, Will began to work within the international musical instrument industry, joining Boosey & Hawkes Musical Instruments as European Sales and Marketing Representative. He later became UK Sales and Marketing Manager for Conn-Selmer USA, where he was responsible for the promotion and development of renowned brands including Vincent Bach, Selmer, Conn and Leblanc. Through this work, he developed relationships with many of the world’s leading performers, educators and conductors, experiences that continue to shape his musical outlook today. In 2008 Will established Prozone Music Ltd and later acquired Phil Parker Ltd, two of the country\u2019s leading brass retail stores, businesses he continues to run and develop today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recognition of his contribution to the music profession, Will was awarded the prestigious Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2015, an honour bestowed upon Academy alumni who have made a significant impact within their profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside his professional career, Will has remained deeply committed to the brass band movement. Notably, enjoying a highly successful ten-year association with Amersham Band as a player, manager and committee member. Working closely with Musical Director Paul Fisher, he played a role in supporting the band’s development and long-term success. As he takes up the baton at St Albans City Band, Will brings a wealth of experience from performance, education, business leadership and band management. His vision is to build upon the band’s strong foundations, fostering musical excellence while supporting the continued growth of the organisation for the benefit of its members and the wider community.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Will says: “I am honoured to be appointed Musical Director of City of St Albans City Band. The band already has a strong reputation and a positive culture. I look forward to working with everyone involved as we continue to develop the band’s musical ambitions, strengthen its role within the local community and create performances audiences enjoy and the band can be proud of.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St Albans City Band is delighted to announce that Will Watson BMus (Hons), ARAM, LRAM has been appointed to the role of Musical Director, St Albans City Band. A significant influence on Will’s musical development was his father, James Watson, one of the most respected figures in the brass world, who enjoyed highly successful tenures … <\/p>\n

Read more “St Albans City Band welcomes new Musical Director”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/will-across-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3346"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3356,"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3346\/revisions\/3356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stalbansband.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}