Joan Hinde

Joan Hinde (born 21 October, 1933) is a British trumpeter and entertainer.

Life

Joan Hinde was born in Eckington, near Sheffield. At the age of six she began receiving cornet lessons from her uncle, who was the conductor of a local brass band. Joan took to the instrument almost immediately and needed no coaxing to practice for several hours per day. By the age of twelve she had won over fifty competitions. In 1966 she married Kenneth Hopson and in 1967 gave birth to her daughter, Claire. She and her husband currently reside in Felpham, Bognor Regis, West Sussex and remain close to their daughter and son-in-law who live nearby. Ms. Hinde still makes regular stage and concert appearances. She is perhaps the UK's oldest working female trumpeter, and is proud to have been a lifelong member of the very excluside Grand Order of Lady Ratlings.

Works

Joan Hinde's showbusiness career began on the BBC radio programme, "Children's Hour" when very young in the early 1940s. In her teens she progressed to regular and legendary appearances on BBC Variety Bandbox, holding her own against fellow performers such as Billy Ternent and Eddie Calvert. It was during this period that she was the first and only female trumpeter in the world to broadcast Haydn's famous Trumpet Concerto. This record has only been broken in more recent years.

At the time when her contemporaries were breaking into the new medium of television, Joan never did, most likely due to ineffective management. Instead, Joan Hinde forged a sparkling reputation on the live variety stage becoming a regular fixture with artistes such as Elsie and Doris Waters, Jimmy James and Co., Gladys Morgan, The "Black and White Minstrel Show", Max Bygraves, Sir Harry Secombe and Ken Dodd. It was with the aforementioned Sir Harry that she travelled far and wide entertaining the British armed forces during various conflicts, including the Falklands and Aden.

Passing years have not seen any deterioration in the brilliant technical mastery of the trumpet, her enviable tone or her innate ability to entertain. Her current repertoire still includes "The Flight of the Bumble Bee", "Haydn Trumpet Concerto", and Leroy Anderson's "Bugler's Holiday". The staple of her workload these days is "The Ken Dodd Laughter Show", but still appears in cabaret and as a guest soloist in light music concerts by larger orchestras.

In 2002 she made her first television appearance in many years on LWT's "Another Audience with Ken Dodd". She appeared as the Lady Mayoress who joined in - apparently uninvited - with Dodd's singing of "The Very Thought of You". Afer the show was broadcast, LWT's switchboard was jammed with calls enquiring as to who the lady trumpet player had been and where recordings of her could be obtained. This might have made LWT think that Joan Hinde would be a useful artiste to include in a mainstream entertainment show; it didn't.

External links

* [http://www.joanhinde.co.uk The Official Joan Hinde Website]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1275957 Joan Hinde's Credits at the IMDB]
* [http://www.golr.co.uk The Grand Order of Lady Ratlings]