A good weekend for the North West and Scotland
Sections 1 - 4 of the British National Finals were under starters orders from 16 - 17 September at The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse. Christopher Thomas and Malcolm Wood bring the highs and the lows of a great weekend for the North West and Scotland
National glory in Section 1 fell to the North West as Pemberton Old Wigan DW became the second band of the weekend to take the honours for the region, joining Section 2 victor, Boarshurst Silver.
Yet Pemberton Old’s triumph also proved to be one of the most hard fought of the weekend in a contest that emerged as the most wide open of any of the sections, as band after band succumbed to both the stylistic and musical challenges of one of Eric Ball’s most cherished pieces, Tournament for Brass.
Adjudicators, Paul Holland and Michael Fowles, were clear, perceptive and diplomatic in their summing up to the late Sunday evening audience, whilst leaving those present in no doubt that they had been generally disappointed and, at times, deeply frustrated by a good deal of what they had heard from the 17 competing bands…
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