Foden's are delighted to announce the signing of Ollie Jackson who joins the bands percussion team from Carlton Main Originally from Sheffield, Oliver is a drummer and percussionist currently studying at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutorage of Simone Rebello. His musical journey began at the age of nine, learning drums and piano before joining the Oughtibridge band aged 16. After two years, he progressed to Carlton Main and has also had opportunities to perform and compete across several European countries with Youth Brass 2000. Alongside brass bands, Oliver performs with a wide range of ensembles such as orchestras, wind orchestras, musical theatre groups and function bands, helping him build strong experience across all percussion disciplines, including orchestral percussion, timpani, tuned percussion and drum kit. Ollie commented 'I’m so grateful for my time at Carlton Main and to have been a part of a great band, I now look forward to joining Foden’s and beginning the next chapter in my journey’ On behalf of Foden's Mark Landon commented 'We are delighted that Ollie has joined Foden's, he is a fantastic all rounder who will be a valuable addition to our section and band' 

Following the announcement of the 2026 Area test Pieces in September, Foden's launched a new initiative giving competitors the opportunity of working with the bands Principal players and Conductor on these challenging works. Over the past couple of weeks Michael Fowles, Mark Wilkinson, Gary Curtin, John Barber, Jonathan Bates and Andy Cattanach have held sectionals / sessions on the 4 th - 1 st area pieces which has seen nearly 100 members travel to Sandbach. As well as working on these test pieces, the sessions also covered various aspects of brass playing and score preparation. Speaking about the initiative Mark Wilkinson commented 'The overall feedback has been fantastic and we are delighted that we have been able to give competitors a heads up well in advance of the contests. We have been delighted with the response with players travelling from as far as Weymouth, London and Yorkshire for the sessions. Due to the project success we will be shortly advertising further dates in mid to late January'