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Whitburn Band has retained the

Scottish Open brass band championship.

The band scooped the title last weekend at Perth Concert Hall.

It is the seventh successive time the West Lothian band has won the contest - one of the most prestigious events in the Scottish brass band calendar - and the ninth occasion overall since the competition began.

Conducted by the band’s director of music, Professor Nicholas Childs, Whitburn performed the test piece Gallery by Howard Snell.

Whitburn’s soprano cornet player Scott Forrest also won the prize for the Best Instrumentalist of the contest, which contained 13 bands from across Scotland and England.

Whitburn Band chairman, Charlie Farren, said:“Our performance at the Scottish Open was the first time we have performed in a competition in Scotland in 20 months, so it was great to be back and we were delighted with how we played.

“My thanks of course go to all the players, Nick, Bryan Allen for helping to prepare the band, and to the Scottish Brass Band Association for their hard work to organise the event.”

Whitburn’s attentions now turn towards the festive season.

The Whitburn Band organisation will all be featured in a Christmas concert on

Saturday, December 11, at 7pm at the Brucefield Church in Whitburn.

The band will be joined by Whitburn Heartlands Band, Whitburn Youth Band and Whitburn Wee Band for the event.

The following week, on the night of Friday, December 17, Whitburn are guests of the Glasgow Phoenix Choir for their festive concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. This event will also feature Inverclyde Voices, and the Inverclyde Schools’Senior and Junior Choirs.

The following evening, on Saturday, December 18, Whitburn will round-off their festive programming with its annual concert at Howden Park Centre in Livingston.