Brass instruments have a cutting edge, a real in-your-face, stand-up-and-listen-to-me factor, but when played well they can be completely the opposite, and that's part of their beauty, according to Steve Miles.
For the past five years, in Dunedin, the Welsh-born musician has conducted the St Kilda Brass Band, run the Brass Academy and worked with the Dunedin Operatic Company.
He says he was the type of kid who put his hand up for everything - piano, guitar, recorder.
He says he was pretty useless at the first three but then someone mentioned brass, he gave it a go and fell in love with it.
But he was told he had a big mouth and should play the euphonium instead of the cornet or trombone, he laughed.
"The smaller instruments never really suited my facial set-up."
After five years at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, he did a teacher's training course, and for a few years played, toured and taught, even forming a euphonium quartet.
Being involved with top-flight bands in the UK, which he says are among the best in the world, showed him what could be achieved with brass instruments.
"I'm always fascinated by how we can create different tones, colours or textures with brass instruments, given that essentially they are all made of the same material and produce a specific, typical sound.
"You get some very beautiful sounds out of string instruments but it's very hard to get that cutting edge to a violin even when played very firmly. It doesn't have that wow factor. And the same can be said for woodwind."
He enjoys the beauty of sound of the euphonium, which has a vast range for a brass instrument.
"In the right hands, the euphonium can comfortably cover four and a-half octaves, which is quite a lot for a brass instrument. A lot of euphonium repertoire commands that as well."
Last year, he was soloist in an Auckland Philharmonic concert, playing Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
"The fourth movement is all euphonium solo, then you sit there for the rest of the concert doing nothing," he said.
Miles (30) came to Dunedin five years ago after seeing jobs advertised for a director of the newly established brass academy and a conductor for the St Kilda Brass Band.
"It was probably good timing more than anything else. I'd come to New Zealand three times previously to play with one of the bands in Auckland and thought New Zealand would be a nice place to spend some time, and this job took my fancy," he said.
Through the academy he taught brass instruments in schools and organised an ensemble programme for his pupils to perform together.
He was involved in the brass course at the University of Otago and also offered tuition for adult players.
"At one point, two-thirds of the [St Kilda] band were involved and it had a significant impact on the standard of the band," he said.
Because of that, he says the band had been able to take on some unusual projects, including a concert based around classical music for which it commissioned a violin concerto from Peter Adams of Otago University and a former conductor of the band, performed by then violin lecturer Kevin Lefohn.
The band also organised a show "Rat Pack Returns Live" in which the band turned into a big band playing 1950s and '60s jazz.
He has had a close association with Dunedin Operatic, where, shortly after he arrived here, he met Gina Todd, who was to become his wife.
Looking back at his time in Dunedin, he is most proud of the concert series with the St Kilda band.
"It's been a real highlight to take an organisation that has a very proud and long history, is well thought of within the country but doesn't really have so much of a local following, and identify how it can raise its profile in the community and build an audience base."
He's also enjoyed conducting large-scale musical productions, including Cats and Miss Saigon for Dunedin Operatic and Full Monty for Epiphany Productions.
"To stand and control all of that is quite a highlight," he said.
Miles and Gina spent Christmas in the UK with his family before flying to Bermuda, where he takes up a position at the Saltus Grammar School.
"I'm interested in seeing what the musical culture is like and being able to make some comparisons to the UK and what I've experienced in New Zealand.
"In some ways, I see the Bermuda move as a stepping-stone possibly to the United States or Canada. Eventually, university work is where I see myself ending up. There's a lot more brass teaching that side of the world, but I see myself as a performance specialist rather than solely a brass teacher."
