BLACKBURN-born musician Deborah Hutt fell in love with the saxophone at first sight after hearing it being played during a concert at King George's Hall.

Now more than 20 years later she's one of the country's top players who tours the UK with the National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain - an ensemble made up entirely of sax players.

The 40-strong choir cuts a dramatic image when members get together - but living a life with sax appeal has led to Deborah making lifelong friends, meeting celebrities, and even performing on the streets of Edinburgh in a pink fluffy stetson during the Fringe festival.

Find out how a girl from Blackburn who grew up playing the violin ended up getting involved in such a unique project.

WHEN the National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain played at Blackburn's Westholme School recently no-one was more proud than the parents of Deborah Hutt, who sat watching in the audience.

The 39-year-old former Blackburnian started her music career learning violin at Feniscowles Primary because the school had happened upon some instruments, and now she is one of the founding members of one of the country's most unusual choirs.

The saxophone is widely regarded a solo instrument - well, it was until the National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain began re-writing all the rules.

Founded in 2003 by top player and publisher Nigel Wood, it is an ensemble of the country's top saxophonists who are dedicated to presenting accessible music to as wide an audience as possible.

"The saxophone is often played by soloists and, of course, this means getting a big group of us together can be a bit like herding cats at times," said Deborah, formerly of Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn.

The choir started when Wood sent out an open invitation to all of the UK's saxophonists who played at the standard of grade eight and above.

"Nigel's a bit bonkers and is always coming up with these crazy but brilliant ideas," said Deborah.

It was only down to a coincidence that Deborah found herself at the choir's first rehearsal.

"Just before Nigel had the idea to create the choir I moved to Birmingham for work. I thought I really need to get some saxophone lessons' and so I Googled saxophone teacher Birmingham' and Nigel's name came up. I effectively bullied him into giving me a lesson. He said he didn't teach any more but I said Oh go on, I'm just a bit rusty' and in the end he agreed, just to shut me up.

"I went round to his house and we talked for the whole hour. He told me about the choir he was setting up, which I thought was a bit odd, but I went along anyway and it grew from there."

The choir has members ranging from age 16 to late 50s and is made up of a cross-section of society.

"We've got nurses, a retired solicitor and I'm an IT consultant," said Deborah.

"We're a real mix from different walks of life and people travel from as far as Glasgow and Tunbridge Wells to get to rehearsals."

The choir has a total of eight different types of saxophone, from the mighty tubax to the miniature soprillo, which are the largest and smallest saxophones in the world.

Deborah came to sax playing relatively late in life for a musician, at the age of 22.

"I was at a concert at King George's Hall one day when this saxophone player came into the room. I fell in love with the sax at first sight. I thought Wow - I want to play that!"

My mum and dad bought me my first sax for my 18th birthday from Reidy's in Blackburn. Then I went off to uni in Birmingham and didn't do much about it. When I graduated I moved to Loughborough and didn't know a soul so I thought I'd have sax lessons."

And now Deborah has 39 best friends in the sax choir.

In 2005 and 2006 the choir even performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

"The first show we did was called Sax in the City and we all went around the streets with bowler hats and dark glasses on, playing really cheesy music - people loved it," said Deborah.

The only downside of the sax choir is that they do not have funding and so have to hold down full-time jobs and play for the love of music.

"We make a bit of money from concerts but all of that goes back into paying for rehearsal space. We all pay all our own travel expenses and we do it for the sheer love of it. We manage by calling in favours and relying on goodwill."