A broken jaw and two missing teeth could mark the end to a music career for any brass musician, but not 24-year-old Tauranga-born Joe Thomas.

Joe Thomas plays in Tauranga with the New Zealand Army Band. Photo by Bruce Barnard.

In 2009 Joe was brutally attacked while walking home from university. As a bass trombone player – the damage to his face posed a major problem.

Joe was studying orchestral music at University of Victoria in Wellington at the time, and playing in the Airforce band.

The attack forced him to take six months out from university and playing, and began a three-year road to recovery, incorporating nine operations to get his face 'remade”.

'I kind of had to reteach myself to play and my grades at university were manipulated due to what happened.”

But Joe has come out on top, completing his Bachelor of Music, a Postgraduate Diploma in Music and a LTCL diploma from the prestigious Trinity College in London.

He says his greatest achievement to date is being named New Zealand's Champion Bass Trombonist and securing the bass trombonist role in the Notational Band of New Zealand.

Picking up the trombone at Tauranga Intermediate at age 11, Joe returned to his roots this week performing in Tauranga City with the New Zealand Army Band on Monday.

The performance at The Strand carpark was in commemoration of 150 years since the Battle of Gate Pa.

'It's a great opportunity playing with the Army Band. We have been all around New Zealand and over the world, we went to Edinburgh and next year are playing in Germany,” says Joe.

'Being in an army band we play in big parades, and you see how we really affect the people- it's something special to them.”

Joe now lives in Christchurch and works full time with the Army Band. In the future he may move to the orchestral music he studied at university.