Youth bands impress with remarkable musicianship
THE four youth bands who reached the finals of Band Cymru, a band contest organised by Rondo Media and televised on S4C on Saturday, April 21, produced a truly remarkable standard of musicianship and the breadth of music selected was certainly wide.
If the groups of people involved can continue to support and produce such fine young players then youth music making will certainly be assured in the future, despite the lack of financial aid from the authorities.
Auditions discovered the best bands in Wales and after earlier rounds the four bands considered to be the best in Wales were, Band Jazz Tryfan from North Wales, Cardiff and Vale Music Service Jazz Orchestra, Torfaen Youth Big Band and Greater Gwent Youth Brass Band.
Each band gave a confident and mature performance which was of a consistantly high standard and they really entertained the audience in the Great Hall in Swansea University and the host of people watching the live television performance.
Each of the bands gave a performance worthy of a champion, but the adjudicators had to select a winner and the judges declared Band Jazz Tryfan the winners, a school band with fewer than 500 pupils. What an achievement!
On Sunday evening, April 22, Band Cymru featuring the senior bands was broadcast from the same venue.
The TV audience would have been glued to their screens from 7pm to 9pm as they saw and listened to some glorious playing of such entertaining music coming from four of the best brass bands in the whole of Wales.
Before the final Cory was the favourite, as they are ranked as the best band in the world, but after all bands had played many people were undecided as to which band would be crowned champion.
Northop had given an excellent presentation and had set a very high standard. Cory followed and certainly played well and showed their class with an enthralling trombone solo performance by Principal Trombonist Chris Thomas.
BTM Band followed Cory and it has to be said that they were generally considered to be outsiders, but their performance was such that at the end of their final piece there was a second’s silence before the audience reacted with tumultuous applause as BTM had certainly given a real championship performance.
This contest was not going be a foregone conclusion!
The last band with 95% brass instruments and 5% stringed and woodwind instruments was Beaumaris and they produced some superb sounds, which were different from what had gone before and their up beat vibrant playing had the audience tapping their feet with the excitement of the music.
This was a performance to grace any hall in the land.
It was a glorious presentation and the whole evening had been one of high musical drama and now the atmosphere was of real tension as the adjudicators got together to make their decision.
The best presentation of a particular piece of music was won by Beaumaris and they were awarded £2,000.
The Best Soloist of the whole series of programmes was Chris Thomas, Principal Trombone with Cory Band and awarded £500.
The band winning the title of Champion of Band Cymru 2018 and awarded prize money of £8,000 was Cory Band.
Rondo, S4C and all the bands should be applauded for presenting such a magnificent musical fiesta. Well done all! THE Salvation Army Corps at Merthyr Tydfil is celebrating its 140th anniversary and is the oldest Corps in Wales.
On Saturday, May 5, a festival of thanksgiving is being held at Rhydycar Leisure Centre which will feature the Corps fellowship band and Songster Brigade.
The General of the Salvation Army will chair this event, to start at 7pm.
Tickets cost £7.50 on the door.