BBE consults on Youth Championships
Brass Bands new CEO, Kenneth Crookston, hit the ground running in his second week in post by announcing major changes to the structure of the National Youth Brass Band Championships that his organisation stages, amongst which will be: the reduction, over the next three years, of the maximum age of competitors from 21 to 18; as closing off the Championships to those who have embarked on under-graduate music study; and a maximum band size of 55, designed to ‘meet venue requirements and provide a more purposeful experience for all of the young musicians.’
The changes will be subjected to a wide-ranging consultation exercise and Kenneth Crookston explained: “Our aim is to make the NYBBCGB an even more inspiring event, maximising opportunities for young musicians to experience the best that banding has to offer and to make the type of progress that we hope will engender lifelong relationships with brass bands.
“It is our opinion that those over the age of 18, or who have progressed to music degree study, have already benefited significantly from their experience in youth brass band contesting and that the community in general will ultimately be richer by allowing their successors greater opportunity to perform in the spotlight. This proposal is also indicative of the progress made by UniBrass since it was founded in 2011; the two events potentially complement each other perfectly, but we do not consider that it is appropriate for significant numbers of players to perform in both.”
BBE hopes that the banding world will examine the consultation document and give feedback on its principles and detail, including on the potential expansion of the Championships into a full weekend programme that sees the main Championships take place on a Saturday, as well as education and development satellite events.
Kenneth Crookston said: “We are grateful to those who have already sent in their comments, following the 2018 NYBBC, both positive and negative, and would encourage anyone with an interest in a bright future for brass bands, in general, to examine our current consultation document very carefully. We do not view this as a plan ‘cast in stone’, so will take into account all comments received before finalising our plans… All suggestions for inclusion - musical or otherwise - will be welcome!”
Download the consultation document at: https://goo.gl/forms/G2LOfAUoOAwN9SL92
