The Plumbing Factory Brass Band
HENRY MEREDITH, DIRECTOR ORDER YOUR MASONIC MASTERPIECES DVD HERE

Conley Family Music

John Conley Sr. took a few music lessons (piano accordian and piano), but just enough to create a lifelong interest. Diane (Hetherington) Conley graduated from the University of Western Ontario acquired an Honors Degree in Music Education.

At the present time John and Diane Conley both play in the Plumbing Factory Brass Band based in London, Ontairo, and directed by Dr. Henry Meredith or Doctor Hank as we call him. We both enjoy getting together with the band, the rehersals are often more like lessons due to Dr. Meredith's method of running teaching rehersals. In fact John has decided that in order to understand what is going on he may have to put a pencil and paper on the music stand to write some obscure music term down so when we get back home he can consult Diane's library of music books from university! We play a lot of early music, ranging from Gabrielli to Sousa, and the band is a typical turn of the century style English Brass Band with B flat cornets, E flat cornets, E flat Altos, Tubas in E and BB flat, B flat Baritones, B flat Euphoniums, and (shudder) trombones.

Dr. Meredith has the largest collection of brass instruments in the world! He was also a consultant to the latest Hollywood Production of The Music Man, the musical by Meredith Wilson, and many of the instruments used in that production were from Dr. Meredith's collection. The Plumbing Factory Brass Band did a concert in the fall of 2006 and we did a Music Man medley where 4 of us, John played double bell euphonium and stood at that part (It's in 76 Trombones) of the song where mention is made of those euphoniums.

John also plays with the London Mocha Shriner's Trumpet Band, he started out carrying a flag, then played the Bass Drum, then the triple drum and now is playing a Baritone G Horn (or Baritone G Bugle). The Mocha Trumpet Band is busy with over 20 appearances a year, including about 6 in Michigan, the rest being in Ontario. Every second year the band takes a trip, we've been to Vancouver, Minnisota, Baltimore, Mexico and Florida in the past 5 years.

John Conley also played in the Old Egin Regiment Band in St. Thomas Ontario.

John and Diane play together, keyboards or piano and flute. John is also organist for Daylight Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in London Ontario, and has done substantial research on Mozart's Masonic contributions, as well as compiling a large library of Masonic Music Books dating from the early 1800's to present.