Scottish Brass Band Championships

Perth Concert Hall, March 10 and 11

When Carrie Boax, president of the Scottish Brass Band Association, talks of the world of brass bands as a big family, she is preaching what she practices.

“My 11-year-old daughter has come through the youth movement and is playing in her first-ever Scottish Brass Band Championships,” she says. “And my husband, John (also a member of SBBA and a competition adjudicator in one category), is playing soprano for the Irvine and Dreghorn band because they were short of a player.

“He’s also conducting a band that’s competing against Irvine and Dreghorn. It can be quite difficult to perform in a contest that you’re running and you’ll always get some cynical people who say that if your band does well it must be a fix, but that’s just because they’re passionate and want the best result.”

This weekend is certainly results time, as the Scottish Brass Band Championships takes place over two days at Perth Concert Hall. The first championships took place at Waverley Market in Edinburgh in 1895, while venues such as the capital’s Usher Hall and Falkirk Town Hall have also hosted the event. Carrie insists, though, that they have struck gold with Perth.

“Every year we ask all our bands for their evaluation of the event and one of the things they always say is not to change the venue from Perth because they love it. We do visit other venues but invariably they don’t quite have what we need: substantial amount of dressing room, halls for workshops, backstage space, rooms for adjudicators, a trade stand, spaces for catering, photography and registration: it can get complicated but Perth ticks all the boxes.”

Over the two days there will be five categories of competitions, with the headline championships event happening on Sunday. Since 2010 the trophy has been shared equally between the brass bands of Whitburn and Co-operative Funeralcare, and they are expected to be battling out again, while Carrie adds that a close eye should be kept on the rising stars of Bon Accord Silver and Dalmellington.

So what is it that the adjudicators are looking for in a winning brass band given that, within each category, they all play the same piece of music? “That’s the million dollar question,” says Carrie. “They’re looking for a performance that covers everything in terms of interpretation and that they’ve been respectful of the composer’s wishes in terms of tempo and style.

“Obviously the quality of performance has to be good and, at the top level, the soloists can sometimes be the determining factor. Some people are of the opinion that competition is not good but I believe that while concerts and festivals have their place, competitions are where you can ultimately improve your standard. As long as you can shake hands and be friends at the end, then it’s all good.”

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Dysart Colliery, last year’s fourth section champions.