Life membership medal for Susan

Congratulations to Susan Brown of MacTaggart Scott Loanhead Band on receiving her Scottish Brass Band Association life membership medal. She was presented with the award by Alan Fernie on behalf of SBBA for over 40 years service to brass banding.

With her grandfather's flugel and a Tune a Day book, Susan began her journey on brass at the age of about 10. On starting high school in 1980, and in order to maintain her brass tuition, she followed her late dad Gordon Thomson and joined Newtongrange junior band some 12 months later.

She continued in her father’s footsteps to Newtongrange Silver Band, sitting in on rehearsals, contests and concerts in the hope that one day she too would become a member of the band. She played with the Greenhall Brass Band on tenor horn on a trip to Germany.

On her return her dad suggested she join MacTaggart as they were building a band back together in Loanhead in the mid-1980s where she sat on horn for several years. She was on flugel for her first contest, playing Four Impressions For Brass. Winning the Scottish Fourth Section in 1992, the band made a trip to the Albert Hall and, in 2017, to Cheltenham.

In 2015 Susan went along to Edinburgh Brass Band, a non-contesting band, where she couldn’t be prouder as it was in the City of Edinburgh Band where her grandfather and dad played. Edinburgh has given her opportunities to play in London and some of the impressive cathedrals and churches around Edinburgh.

In 2016 she took her first trip to the Whit Friday march contests with Tartan Brass. She's now got four under her belt and has loved them all, making so many new friends.