Guide Chichester City Band return delighted after competition success
Music Chichester City Band returned delighted after competing in the Finals of the National Brass Band Championships at The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse.
Representing London and the Southern Counties in competition against 17 of the very finest bands of their grading from all over England, Wales and Scotland, they took a very creditable sixth place.
Spokesman Jim Hurdwell said: “Our success is down to a great deal of very hard work from everyone not least our musical director Rom Stanko. We had rehearsals on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a final one at Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham on Saturday.
“After that, everyone enjoyed an excellent meal together and, even before the result, special mention should be made also to 12-year-old Helena Wilson who was making her debut with the band and played superbly in our percussion team. Helena is the daughter of our solo euphonium player Ronnie Wilson and Anne Wilson who plays flugel horn.”
It’s an important result for the band.
“I guess what this means most is that the band is continuing its great improvement in standards of playing and that the team is very much on the up.
“Not only are our performances achieving burgeoning acclaim from audiences and adjudicators but the CCB team is now a very happy family of committed, hard-working and enthusiastic musicians under the inspirational leadership and expertise of Rom Stanko. We are on a high and, barring any unfortunate mishaps, we will be promoted to a higher division next year.”
The set work in the competition was The Viking Age by Thierry Deleruyelle.
“If you want to be part of Team Chi’s continuing success story, we have do have some vacancies especially for experienced tuba players and percussionists. Dedicated brass band players are always welcome and we’d be delighted to hear from you. We rehearse from 8pm until 10pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Super Shell Building at Goodwood Motor Circuit.” Britain’s most decorated Olympian Sir Bradley Wiggins will take in Brighton as he tours theatres throughout the UK with his insightful and at times hilarious live show.
Bradley Wiggins: An Evening With provides a rare opportunity for fans to see the five-time Olympic Gold medallist and Tour De France winner share exclusive tales, prized memorabilia and career highlights in a live setting (including Theatre Royal Brighton, Monday, September 30).
His remarkable achievements made him a national hero. But you will struggle to find a more grounded bloke. For all the medals, for all the skill, for all the determination which took him almost beyond elite level, Bradley has retained the guy next door personality which endeared him to millions.
Now retired, he has got the simplest perspective on those years when virtually everything he touched turned to gold.
“It wasn’t a blur and it wasn’t all excitement. You just had to be so businesslike. We trained not to feel emotion so that we could just go from one event to another. It was instilled in us. We will just willed ourselves from day to day. If you got excited about things, you would just burn yourself out. And when you won, you just felt relief. We didn’t even celebrate the victories.
You just went from race to race. You won, and you would be straightaway focusing on the next one. It was not like ‘Wow, this is the greatest period in my life.’ Winning became the benchmark. Not winning was failure. That was the standard we set. It was not about enjoying the moment.”
2012 was the year he won the Tour de France and picked up gold in the London Olympics – an extraordinary year.
“I remember we were in such a bubble on the tour, and we came back and didn’t realise the effect that the tour had had. We were lucky to have the Olympic Games straight off the back of it, and we came back to the Olympics which just happened to be in your home town.