Tyler Clark signs for Whitburn Band on tenor horn

Another product of Whitburn Band’s innovative player pathway programme – which aims to nurture young musicians through the organisation – has signed with the senior band on tenor horn.

Tyler Clark started playing at the age of nine, before joining West Lothian Schools Brass Band in 2019. He joined Whitburn Youth Band a year later and, under the continued guidance of Whitburn’s flugel player and pathway musical director Caroline Farren, he continued to progress, moving to Whitburn Heartlands in 2021 and the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland.

He was solo horn with Heartlands, Whitburn Youth and West Lothian Schools before joining Kirkintilloch Kelvin Band (KKB) in 2023 on second horn. 

In 2025, he won the West Lothian Young Musician award and earlier this year he was part of KKB’s victory in the Scottish Championships in the First Section.

Tyler always remained with the Whitburn Band organisation throughout, continuing to perform as a guest with Whitburn at concerts and other events. He was also part of the Whitburn Youth Band which won the Development Section of the Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships last year.

The 19-year-old joins Caroline, Andrew McMillan and Iain Fleming in Whitburn’s horn section.

He is the fourth player to have signed with Whitburn Band after progressing through the player pathway project. He follows cornet player Ross Gilchrist, who joined Whitburn last year, and percussionists Ryan Bradley and Amy Gray who were both members of Whitburn before embarking on careers as professional musicians.

Tyler said: “I’m looking forward to joining the band I’ve aspired to be part of since starting at Whitburn Youth Band, and I’m excited about what the future holds here.”

Whitburn chairman Charlie Farren added: “We are delighted to welcome Tyler to the band. He has worked very hard for a long time to achieve his goal and we are very excited about his future with the band. His signing is a testament to the great work going on in the player pathway programme in the development of young instrumentalists.”