Retired from professional practice in 2005 after 35 years.

Completed a Diploma of Band Instrument Repair Technology at Western Iowa Tech Community College Sioux City, Iowa, graduating in 2007.  The WITCC instrument repair programme is the longest continuously operating course of this type in the world and the WITCC is recognized as the foremost college offering training in band instrument repair.

As well as the college training, I completed over 1100 hours of work experience in a private repair workshop in Sioux City under the supervision of Craig Walters, a qualified technician, and himself a graduate of the WITCC programme.  This internship, which was arranged by my college instructor, gave me hands-on practical experience in every aspect of brass and woodwind repair with instruments belonging to the public school system as well as privately owned instruments.

While at the college I designed a mounting jig for holding piston- valved brass instruments while they are worked on.  This jig can support the entire range of instruments from trumpets and cornets to baritones,euphoniums and tubas.  A prototype of the jig was made at the college and the design given to Votaw Tool Co. Springfield, Missouri which has manufactured the tool commercially under the name “Geoff’s Jig”.  See the manufacturer’s website.  The jig was also featured in the NAPBIRT Journal in September-October, 2007.

I am a current member of the National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians (USA), and the Australian Music Association.
 Photo courtesy of Toby Frost. His permission to display the image on this website is gratefully acknowledged.