Melissa Hardy (Tenor Horn)
Melissa began her brass-playing journey at the age of ten, originally taking up the trumpet at primary school. By the age of 12, she had joined her school brass band and went on to play with a variety of ensembles over the years, including the Cadet National Marching Band during her teens. After leaving school, Melissa moved to Lincoln to study Bioveterinary Science, where she played front-row cornet with the Lincolnshire Hospital Band.
In 2018, Melissa moved to Northern Ireland to begin her PhD studies and joined Downshire Brass. It wasn’t long before she caught the competition bug, taking part in her first contest just a month after joining the band! She spent several years happily settled in the cornet section before deciding to shake things up in 2023 and make the move to tenor horn.
It’s safe to say that Melissa fell in love with the tenor horn — so much so that she now refuses to leave the horn section! She currently enjoys playing and competing in the second horn seat.
Melissa finally completed her PhD in Biological Sciences in 2025, but by then she had fallen rather too much in love with Northern Ireland — and Downshire Brass — to leave! She has since made Northern Ireland her permanent home, where she has also met her fiancé, David, who has become a regular Downshire Brass groupie.
Now that her studies are behind her, Melissa enjoys spending her spare time reading, cross-stitching and shooting a few arrows with her longbow archery team.