February 18th 2025 - Musical Director  Appointment

We are delighted to announce that John Thompson has been appointed as our new Musical Director!

John Thompson was born in Yorkshire and studied trumpet at Huddersfield University under Dave Chatterton. While there, he discovered a love of leading groups, and was the inaugural conductor of the student led wind band, as well as smaller ensembles as part of his qualifications.

Since leaving university, alongside the day job of working in IT for a financial institution, John has played in almost every kind of ensemble you can think of that would include a brass instrument, before taking up his first MD post with Garforth Brass in 2017. There he rebuilt the band from 12 players, leaving them in a much better position in 2024 to explore other opportunities.

For the last couple of years, John has been MD and trumpet player for Huddersfield band, Sundown Swing, where he has been able to indulge in his passion for big band music. While taking up the opportunity with WOW means he has to hand over the reins, he looks forward to depping with the band in future.

We are really looking forward to starting this new chapter with John and we're excited to see what the future brings!