We welcome Kirsty Hooper as our Representative for the Midlands Region.

Kirsty began her musical life as (whisper it) a violist before seeing the light and defecting to the brass section. This unusual pedigree did, however, afford her the rare experience while at Hertford College, Oxford of playing the violist-trumpeter Hans Richter in a historical recreation of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll premiere.

After many years playing cornet, flugel, and tenor horn in brass bands and ensembles, she turned 50 in the summer of 2025, had a mid-life crisis, purchased a pBone (yellow), and hasn't looked back. Now a trombonist with several Midlands brass and concert bands, Kirsty enjoys the trombone’s diverse repertoire, with a soft spot for Baroque transcriptions, Romantic concert pieces, and Edwardian airs variés.

Outside music, Kirsty is an historian and linguist, dividing her time between the role of Professor of Hispanic Studies at Warwick University, where she specialises in the history of Spanish communities in the UK, and her own freelance genealogy business.

Contact Kirsty at [email protected]