Results of inaugural BrassPass UK competition
LAST month, on June 22, the inaugural BrassPass UK Band of the Year Championship took place and the results were as follows:
1st Cory (Philip Harper); 2nd Black Dyke (Prof Nicholas Childs); 3rd Tredegar (Ian Porthouse); 4th Fairey (Garry Cutt) 5th Foden’s (Michael Fowles); 6th Carlton Main Frickley Colliery (Russell Gray); 7th Brighouse & Rastrick (Dr David Thornton); 8th Hammonds (Morgan Griffiths); 9th Flowers (Marieka Gray).
What another great achievement for two Welsh bands to finish in the top three of the best bands in the UK.
Cory further justified their world number one ranking and current Welsh champions Tredegar just consolidated their class with their third place.
There was a touch of Welsh in all three placings as second-placed Black Dyke is conducted by Prof Nicholas Childs, who hails from Tredegar.
Each band had to feature a soloist in their contest programme and the principal cornet player of the Cory Band, Tom Hutchinson, was judged to have been the outstanding soloist. Many congratulations to Tom Hutchinson!
The contest was followed by a Gala Concert presented by the famous Black Dyke Band, conducted by Welshman Professor Nicholas Childs and featuring euphonium virtuoso David Childs, the nephew of Prof Childs, which certainly confims the Childs family as one of the most talented on the Welsh brass band scene.
David’s father is Dr Robert Childs, who was musical director with Cory Band, taking them to the number-one ranked band in the world and more recently winning the British Open Championship with Grimethorpe Colliery Band.