Prizes a plenty at Open
THIS Saturday sees the 22nd Welsh Open Brass Band Entertainment Championships taking place at the Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl, starting at 11am.
After the 7th band has played there will be a comfort break for the adjudicator, who will have been watching and listening for three and a half hours.
In all there are 14 bands taking part – eight Welsh bands and six English.
The Welsh Open is organised through the auspices of the South Wales Miners’ Eisteddfod and supported by The Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO).
The prizes on offer will be £1,000 for 1st Prize and the CISWO Challenge Trophy; £500 for 2nd Prize and Tower Colliery Trophy; and £300 for 3rd Prize and the Doug John Trophy.
There will also be £300 for best placed Section One Band not in the prizes and the Eifion W Rogers Trophy and £300 for most Entertaining Stage Presentation and the Porthcawl Town Council Trophy.
There are also trophies for Best Soloist, Best Cornet Player, Best Soprano Player, Best Horn Section, Best Percussion Section, Youngest Instrumentalist and a Special Award of “An invatation to compete at the 2019 Spring Festival Senior Trophy at Blackpool”.
Competing bands are: Abergavenny Borough (Sean O’Neil), AW Parker Drybrook (Josh Ruck from Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire), BTM (Jeff Hutcherson), Burry Port Town (Michael Thorne), City of Cardiff (M1) (Christopher Bond), Enderby (Ryan Richards from Leicestershire, Midlands), Filton Concert (Tom Davoren from Bristol), Haverhill Silver (Paul Filby from Suffolk), Jackfield (David Maplestone from Shropshire), Llwydcoed (Christopher Turner), Pontardulais Town (Paul Jenkins), Thundersley (Melvin White from South Benfleet, Essex), Tongwynlais Temperance (Gareth Hann), Tylorstown (Gary Davies).
Tom Davoren, conductor of Filton Concert, is no stranger to the Welsh Open as he was the winning conductor with BTM in 2009, again with Burry Port Town in 2015 and last year with the current Welsh Open Champions Filton Concert.
Last year was the second time that Filton had been successful at the Welsh Open as they won it when being conducted by Belgian euphonium virtuoso Glenn van Looy in 2016.