Derek Greenwood was born in Yorkshire and played in his local village band until he joined the Band of the Grenadier Guards as Principal Euphonium, a position he held for ten years. In 1976 he moved to Cornwall to take up the position as Musical Director of the Camborne Band and for the next twelve years guided the band through the most successful time in their history.
Derek has conducted all of Cornwall's premier bands and has also travelled out of the county to conduct bands such as Tredegar, Sun Life, Woodfalls and many others. His most recent position was at St Keverne where he also trained their Youth Band, winning 2 national titles and the BBC Youth Band of the Year on two occasions. In the year 2000 Derek was awarded the Mortimer Medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians for his work with youth bands. He is a member of the National panel of Adjudicators and enjoys travelling the country to adjudicate.
Having just retired after thirty years as Head of Brass at Truro School, he spends most of his time walking his dog Toby and coaching bands for contests.
Recognising the wealth of superb female players in Cornwall he put the idea of forming an all female band to the girls of St Austell Band and they did the rest. He is truly amazed that it is so popular, with so many players wanting to join and looks forward to a long association with the band raising lots of money for charity.