Competition honour for conductor Nigel
THE New Zealand Brass Band Association has appointed Nigel Seaman as chief adjudicator for the New Zealand Brass Band Championships which will be held in Wellington between April 19 and 23.
This is a real honour for Welshman Nigel, who is a highly respected freelance conductor and is currently acting as musical consultant to the Cory Band, who are British and European Champions and ranked number one in the world.
In addition to being involved with New Zealand, he has also been appointed as chief adjudicator at the 2017 Yamaha Australian National Band Championships, which are being held in Launceston, Tasmania from April 14-17. The New Zealand Brass Band Championships first took place in 1880 and the winner was decided by the listening audience – a far cry from what is considered to be acceptable today by way of adjudication.
Although one can still hear comments from time to time from disgruntled supporters stating something like, ‘that band never won that! The adjudicator got it wrong!!’
This initial National Championship contest in 1880 is considered to be the first ever National Brass Band Championship Contest to be held anywhere in the world.
Nigel Seaman has had considerable success in the contesting field with various bands from South Wales and from the Midlands. Born in Denbigh, North Wales, he began his playing career with Rhyl Silver Band.
He went on to study music at the Royal Manchester and Royal Northern Colleges of Music. In 1975, he joined the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera as Principal Tuba and two years later became Principal Tuba with the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales.
Having retired as a professional tuba player he is constantly in demand as a guest conductor by championship bands from all over Great Britain and he is still doing a sterling job as a tutor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Nigel should certainly be congratulated for attaining the heights in the music world that has drawn attention from the farthest reaches of our world.
The name of Wales is once again on the lips of New Zealanders and Australians because of Nigel’s considerable abilities as a brass player and a musi- cal director and he will always be respected for these attributes.
Like Nigel, the Cory band have recently been requested to tour Australia and between them they are flying our flag in the southern hemisphere and through their achievements are making Wales a country to be highly respected in the world of music and as a result also in the world in general.
This is the time of year when people are recognized for their contribution to society.
The fact that Wales has the best band in the world under the leadership of Phillip Harper, namely the Cory band and Tredegar Town Band under musical director Ian Porthouse, having created so much interest in brass banding through its appearance in films and on the London stage in the world of ballet with the Ballet Rambert Company and now the world reputation that Nigel Seaman has achieved, it does make one wonder how the machinery of recognising the outstanding worth of individuals deserving of public honours actually works!
The Welsh Open Brass Band Entertainment Contest takes place at the Grand Pavilion. Porthcawl, on Saturday, February 18.
Entries closed on January 7 and to date there are 10 entrants, two of which are from England, one of whom is the defending Welsh Open Champion, namely The Filton Band from Bristol.
This is a brass band competition that should have the audience in mind when bands are selecting their programme.
Each band plays an entertaining programme which lasts for 20 minutes. Timing of each performance is very strict.
Each piece of music is timed and then added together.
It is fine if the total time is under 20 minutes, but for every 10 seconds over 20 minutes there is a penalty of 1 point.
Over the years a number of bands have lost a winning position due to this very strict rule.
This Welsh Open Contest presents an excellent day of contrasting and entertaining music which should not be missed.
I, for one, am certainly looking forward to it.