John Bush

Lead Trumpet

After a successful career as a senior executive in the Chemical Industry John now spends much of his time involved with music in the Greater Manchester area. He works with the Northern Chamber Orchestra as a non-executive director, and maintains a busy schedule as a freelance trumpet player. 

John was born in Southampton and began playing the cornet and trumpet at the age of seven. He chose to study Chemical Engineering at Exeter University taking trumpet lessons with Graham Ashton in his spare time. After completing a Ph.D. at Cambridge University John worked in the North East of England, maintaining his interest in music by joining local orchestras and brass groups. In 1987 he played Soprano Cornet at the national brass band finals, championship section, with North Skelton (British Steel) Brass Band. 

In 1992 John was offered the opportunity to take a two-year secondment to Osaka, Japan. During his stay in Japan he was the first non-Japanese to join the Takarazuka Symphony Orchestra. 

On returning to the to the UK in 1994 John and his family settled in Cheshire. Since then he has performed as a member and as a soloist with amateur orchestras in and around Manchester. Solo performances have included concertos by Haydn, Hummel, Telemann and Vivaldi, and the solo trumpet part in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No2, Shostakovich’ Piano Concerto No1 and Copland’s Quiet City. 

John has played with Corus Brass on an occasional basis for more than 10 years, joining as their regular first trumpet in September 2016.