Gillian Garvie began playing the cornet under the direction of John Dickson at her local primary school, age 9.

Once at secondary school, Gillian joined the school band and her first contest was the Scottish Youth Championships in 1986 which the band (St David’s High School, based in Dalkeith, Midlothian) won. The band went on to compete at the National Youth Brass Band Championships in the Royal Albert Hall in London – quite a prestigious venue for a 2nd contest!

In 1987, Gillian went on to join a local senior band, Dalkeith Burgh Band (who later became Dalkeith & Monktonhall) and enjoyed success at many contests across Scotland and down south, as well as undertaking two tours of Germany as part of the Midlothian Council sponsored Festival of Friendship.

In 1995, Gillian joined Penicuik Silver band for a brief spell before moving across the water to Cowdenbeath band in 1996. Whilst with Cowdenbeath, Gillian took part in contests both at a regional and national level including trips to the National Finals in Cardiff (1996) and Harrogate (1998).

Gillian was one of the founder members of Kingdom Brass in 1999 and has contested at many great venues, including the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Wintergardens in Blackpool and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, as well as the Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne, Switzerland. Gillian also took part in the 2006 tour of Germany – an experience which will never be forgotten!

As well as supporting the Core Tutors in the Kingdom Brass Youth Initiative, Gillian also undertakes the role of Child Protection Officer for the youth initiative.