Conductor

Having been born into a Salvationist family, Dave Lea
was introduced to brass banding at the early age of five
when he began to learn the cornet. Many years were
spent in Salvation Army banding, culminating in a period
of fifteen years as principal cornet of the Coventry City
S.A. Band. During this period he attained a Diploma for
Trumpet Playing at the London College of Music and
took an active interest in conducting brass and choral
groups.

In 1988 Dave was appointed Musical Director, signalling
a period of unprecedented success in the Bands history,
which has included many prestigious concert
engagements, overseas tours, many successful
competition results and recording contracts..

May 1999 Dave led the band in qualifying for
the right to compete at the British Open
contest by conducting the band to the
Runners up prize in the fiercely contested
Grand Shield Contest. Already under the
Jaguar name Dave has led the band to be
runners up in both the Pontins and Senior
Cup competitions and in October 2006 taken
the band to compete at the National Brass
Band Finals at the Albert Hall.