Alumnus profile: Edward Jones, musician

I'm Principal Trombone of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a post that I've held since I was 23. I began playing when I was nine years old, and by the age of twelve or thirteen I had decided that I wanted to play professionally!

I spent my Sixth-Form years at a specialist music school in Manchester called Chetham's, before reading Music at King's. After a year's post-graduate study at the Royal Academy I embarked upon a freelance career, working with orchestras in Great Britain and abroad. After a successful audition, I performed as a triallist with the CBSO for about a year before being offered a permanent position.

I'm very fortunate to be able to do something I really enjoy doing for a living, performing fantastic music with wonderful musicians in great concert halls. One of my favourite parts of the job is the travel- the orchestra do a fair amount of touring, so I've been to a number of different countries and experienced a wide range of cultures, all at someone else's expense! Another brilliant part of the job is the diversity of the work we do. Every week is completely different, as aside from the standard symphonic repertory we also do big band nights, film music, contemporary music, and even gigs with comedians.

The only real downside of being an orchestral musician is the number of anti-social hours we work. I'm out performing most weekends and a lot of weekday evenings as well, and sometimes it's difficult to take time off work because the orchestra expect me to be there for the most important concerts. I should also point out that you are unlikely to make millions as an orchestral musician in the UK right now!

Any music students who are considering a career as an orchestral musician should be aware of the high level of competition, as there are a lot of great players out there competing for very few jobs. It is highly likely that you will have to work your way up the freelance 'ladder' before securing a full-time position, and there is of course no guarantee that you will ever see this reward for all your hard work.