Day of mixed emotions at finals of band championships
THE Welsh Region Qualifying Round of The National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain took place in March 2016 at the Brangwyn Hall Swansea.
The best two bands in each section were invited to represent Wales in the Finals which were held at The Centaur Hall, Cheltenham Racecourse in September for the lower section bands.
The bands representing Wales were:
– 1st City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) (Conductor Nigel Seaman); 2nd Ebbw Valley Brass (Gareth Ritter).
– 1st Thomas Coaches Mid Rhondda (Alan Gibbs); 2nd Deiniolen (Lois Eifion).
– 1st Rhyl Silver (Keith Jones); 2nd Briton Ferry(Jeff Pearce)
– 1st Phoenix Brass (Luke Jenkins); 2nd Newport Borough (Robin Hackett).
With such an outstanding record of results over the last three years it is not surprising that Welsh supporters were expecting our bands to do quite well in the Finals again this year.
Much was expected from the City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) and Ebbw Valley as both have an excellent pedigree.
City of Cardiff experienced success in the Band Cymru S4C Contest by beating the current Welsh Regional Champions, Tredegar, in the earlier rounds of the contest.
With the very experienced Nigel Seaman directing the band observers were expecting great things so their finishing position of 11th of 17 bands was a rather unexpected result.
Ebbw Valley had achieved the distinctive honour of becoming Champions of Great Britain of The Fourth, Third and Second Sections in consecutive years so all were hoping they could achieve the hitherto unattainable feat of becoming Champions of the First Section to create a new record.
They played a good band in the contest, but it was not to be and they finished, for them, a disappointing 5th.
Both these bands are bristling with musical talent and I expect both bands to feature highly in the contesting scene over the next couple of years.
The Second Section Welsh representatives Thomas Coaches Mid Rhondda and Deiniolen from North Wales again were expected to do well.
Both bands have had a successful year in the contest field and both were quietly confident that they could make a real impression in this year’s National Finals, but disappointedly both bands finished in the lower half of the 16 competing bands.
However, both bands have been promoted up to the First Section for 2017 and Thomas Coaches in particular have some very experienced players within the band and they should certainly be able to make a real mark in this higher section next year.
The last time Briton Ferry was at the National Finals was in 2002 in the Third Section and they achieved an excellent 4th place.
The band has had some mixed results over the years since then, but certainly deserved their second place at Swansea this year to get the invitation to represent Wales in the National Finals.
The band will be looking forward to next year’s qualifying round in March to try to return to Cheltenham and improve on this year’s 14th place.
Rhyl Silver Band was at the 2015 National Finals and managed a respectable 11th place finish so finishing 8th this year is an improvement and will give them that encouragement to get to the finals again next year.
Welsh bands seem to have taken over the Fourth Section as there has been a Fourth Section Welsh Champion of Great Britain since 2013 when Ebbw Valley won the title, followed by Northop from North Wales in 2014, Usk in 2015 and this year Phoenix (Goodwick) are the Champions.
Being promoted to the Third Section for 2017 this very young band epitomizes the excellent educative work of the tutors who are creating such a high standard of musicianship in Pembrokeshire.
Conductor Luke Jenkins can justifiably be proud of his young band and also very happy with his brother Matthew, whose fine Euphonium playing earned him the accolade of Best Instrumentalist in the contest.
Newport Borough conducted by Robin Hackett also had a good result coming 5th out of the best 19 bands in Great Britain.
Newport have also gained promotion to the Third section and they will be looking to qualify in 2017 from the higher section.
Congratulations to all the bands representing Wales at the Finals as it is both an honour and a great achievement.
A MASTERCLASS with tutors from world famous championship winning Tredegar Town Band will take place over the weekend of November 5 and 6 for young players in the area.
The event is hosted by Abergavenny Borough Youth Brass Band and is funded by Ty Cerdd.
The course culminates in a Musical Extravaganza on the Sunday evening featuring students from the course. This event is free.
The course takes place at Victoria Primary School, Lower Harpers Road, Abersychan. NP4 8PW, from 10am-4pm.
Further details can be obtained from Lana Tingay via email at: lanatingay@hotmail.co.uk.