Sue Collison was an accomplished clarinet player at school, but hadn’t played for 20 years when she dusted her clarinet off to join the Band in 2006.
“I began playing the clarinet on entering secondary school after falling in love with the sound of the instrument aged 9 yrs when a classmate played a Spanish dance by Moszkovski on her clarinet in assembly. She was only tiny and the clarinet was almost as big as she was!
“My first instrument has always been the piano which I began playing at 5 yrs old. I had a most charismatic and inspiring teacher who believed in enjoying the instrument for itself and the music that could be played on it (rather than to just pass exams) and encouraged me to play a wide mix of classical music over the years. I later moved on to other teachers (and took exams) but I will always believe that it was those early years with her that gave me my passion for both the piano and classical music in general.
“The Piano will always be my favourite instrument as it has such depth of sound and lends itself well to so many genres and styles of music. The clarinet, however, has given me the opportunity to enjoy playing with other people in groups which has developed my playing greatly.
“I joined the band in 2006 – so 13 years now. After a gap of over 20 years from playing my clarinet I was very nervous on my first visit but everyone was so welcoming and friendly and Fiona was (and still is) an encouraging section leader. I’d only played classical music in orchestras before so swing and syncopated rhythms took some getting used to!
“I love playing so many different types of music. Some of the pieces are very challenging and require some extra practice at home – to the despair of our two dogs and two cats! It’s so hard to choose a favourite piece from the Band’s repertoire from so many wonderful pieces of music but at the top of the list are ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, ‘The American Trilogy’ and ‘Bare Necessities’.
“Being a member of the Band has resulted in myself and four other lovely ladies forming a quintet called “Quintessence”. We meet fortnightly and have a good play as well as lots of laughs and tea and cakes! We also do a few local gigs and have been on two quintet weekends in Yorkshire which have helped improve our skills in playing together.”
Sue was a secondary school maths teacher for almost 30 years and now tutors maths from home. Her other hobbies include caravanning and most recently cycling.
