BBW Interview: Carving her place in history

Kathleen Gaspoz made history as Brighouse and Rastrick’s first-ever female principal cornet when she took to the stage at the 2017 ‘European’ in Oostende – Christopher Thomas met the rising cornet star from the Swiss Alps.

When young cornet star, Kathleen Gaspoz, took to the stage with Brighouse and Rastrick at the European Championships in Ostende in May, she did so knowing that history was being made. For a band that, until recent years, remained one of the last bastions of male-dominated banding, Kathleen’s appointment as the band’s first female principal cornet marked a new era in the band’s illustrious 136-year history, whilst firmly cementing her status as one of the leading young stars amongst banding’s elite.

With her 24th birthday only just behind her and already having won three Swiss National cornet titles prior to her arrival in the UK in 2015, Kathleen grew up steeped in music and brass banding in her native Switzerland.

“I was born in a small town in the Swiss Alps called Vex. Less than 2,000 people live in this beautiful little town and the town band is the most popular local activity. I come from a very musical family and my grandfather has just celebrated 65 years of playing in the town band, Echo de Glacier. He is currently playing alongside his three children and nine grandchildren!”

Kathleen’s initial musical grounding, however, was on the piano. “I started piano at the age of seven, but the cornet followed one year later and I’ve never stopped loving it since. The very first summer that I starting learning, I would…

Read this article in full, featured in July/August 2017’s BBW, by subscribing to BBW Digital. Alternatively, subscribe to the printed magazine delivered by post: £40 (UK); £68 (Europe); £81 (Rest of the World)