Hannah Orr

Hannah joined Milnrow Band in 2019, but brass banding has been in the family far longer than that. Her grandad played second horn with Brighouse & Rastrick when they took The Floral Dance onto Top of the Pops, and her dad played with Besses o’ th’ Barn – so picking up a tenor horn was less a choice and more a family tradition with valves.

She started playing at the age of nine with Whitworth Vale & Healey and has been hooked ever since. These days, Hannah is proudest of being part of the “Mighty Milnrow Band” through thick and thin, helping the band push on through the hard times – and, of course, of that little highlight known as winning Scotland.

A standout memory is recording the band’s Heritage CD, although Hannah insists that every moment with Milnrow is memorable – usually because someone has done or said something they probably shouldn’t have.

Off stage, the band is basically Hannah’s extended family. Many of her closest friends sit in the same rehearsal room, and she’s grown up alongside them, collecting new bandmates along the way. She especially loves sharing the stage with her actual family too: her husband, brother and sister‑in‑law. If you sense a theme here, you’re right – if you’re related to Hannah, you’re probably in a band.

Away from Milnrow, Hannah swaps the band room for the spotlight as a trained Musical Theatre performer and teacher. She once played Gloria in a stage production of Brassed Off, complete with the famous flugel solo “Orange Juice” – and yes, she really did play it herself, despite what the sceptics in the pit thought.

There may also be a story involving lactose intolerance and a very badly timed ice cream, but… as her profile question form clearly says: “Don’t put that!”