Christopher Wormald composer / arranger

Born in 1961, Chris Wormald received the Mortimer Medal in 1998 from the Worshipful Company of Musicians at the British Open in Symphony Hall, Birmingham and was Classic FM Music Teacher of The Year in 2001. Chris has been a long time member of the National Association of Brass Band Adjudicators (A.B.B.A.), National Association of Brass Band Conductors (N.A.B.B.C.) and has won numerous contests, competitions, festivals and awards as conductor, horn player, teacher and arranger.

He has over one hundred adjudications to his credit all over the World since 1991, with emphasis on Championship Section and national contests since 2004. These include the Swiss National Championships, French National Championships, three English National Championships, two Scottish Opens, Brass In Concert, Grand Shield (Senior Cup and Senior Trophy), National Brass Band Finals, multiple Yorkshire, North West, Midlands, London, South West and Scottish Area contests, Muse Festival (Singapore), Pontins, Wilkinson Northern Open, Carnegie Trust, Preston Guildhall, Durham Association, Leicestershire Association, BBL (Northern Ireland), Scottish Borders, Buxton, Weston-Super-Mare, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Easingwold, Skipton, Fleetwood, Ebbw Vale, Hardraw Scar, Minsthorpe, Morley, Rhyl, Whit Friday (now annually at Greenfield) and the British Open Solo & Quartet Championships.

Chris has conducted brass bands professionally since 1983. Highlights include conducting Brighouse & Rastrick at the 1994 Leek Arts Festival, becoming MD of Wingates in 1998 and conducting Grimethorpe in concerts from Reading Town Hall to South Wales in 2007 whilst the band was National Champions of Great Britain. Chris joined James Shepherd Versatile Brass as horn soloist for five years at the invitation of Jim Shepherd in 1990, the year he was also appointed to Smithills School, having been Head of Brass Instrumental Teaching for Bolton MBC since 1983 during which time he also taught at the RNCM in Manchester. Chris was a member of the NYBBGB alongside Ian Bousfield, Nick Childs, Steven Mead and Martin Winter and played with the band under Harry Mortimer at Belle Vue in 1978.

Chris formed his internationally renowned Smithills School Senior Brass Band in 1991 and over the next twenty years of competition they won over fifty major national and international competitions including becoming inaugural World Brass Band Champions in Kerkrade, Holland in 2005 (Adult, 3rd Section), winning twelve National Festival of Music For Youth titles at the Royal Festival Hall in London and Symphony Hall in Birmingham, including two runs of five consecutive years in that time; a level of success never achieved by any school before or since. Chris has conducted Smithills all over the World, from Norway to New Zealand and Japan to the USA (five concert tours) in addition to eight times at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

As an orchestral horn player, Chris made his professional London debut in the Philharmonia Orchestra at The Barbican in 2003 after two decades of freelancing throughout the UK, something he continues to do. Chris has over one hundred published brass band arrangements with Studio Music, Wright & Round and Obrasso, His Obrasso arrangements are recorded on CD by Black Dyke, Cory and Brighouse & Rastrick.