Congratulations Kingdom Brass: 2021 Scottish Challenge Champions
Sadly, Sunday started off on a similar note to the day before with the news that two of the entries in the Scottish Challenge had been forced to withdraw due to Covid. Annan Town and then Clackmannan District both reported that they had band members who had contracted the virus and so were pulling out of the competition for the lower section bands. This left 11 bands to vie for the Challenge Shield, starting with Broxburn & Livingston and their rendition of ‘Sword, Jewel and Mirror’.
The reduced entry meant that the contest ended earlier than usual, but even so, the results were just as eagerly anticipated. Once again, Steven Mead and Paul Holland were in the adjudicators’ box and their choice of first place was Kingdom Brass playing ‘Metropolis 1927’. Steven told the audience that both he and Paul could sense the joy of the bands playing together on the contest stage once again. And SBBA president Carrie Boax expressed her sincere gratitude to everyone who help to make the weekend happen.
Clackmannan District Band donated a special prize to be awarded to the best tenor horn section in the event – the Anthony Hope Memorial Trophy, in memory of the band’s former secretary, Tony Hope. The trophy was presented to Kingdom Brass by band vice president Julie Johnston, who had made the trip to Perth with president Debbie Wark specially for the occasion.
During the weekend SBBA President’s Awards were presented to Gordon Simpson, statistician and operator of the www.brassstats.com website, and Iwan Fox, editor of the www.4barsrest.com online publication, for services to brass banding.
Even though the Scottish Festival of Brass was not a full return to ‘normal’, it was a big step along the way. Thanks go to all the players and conductors, adjudicators, compere Alasdair Hutton, trade stand operators, sponsors, contest controller Peter Fraser, SBBA Covid marshals, ambassadors, volunteers and helpers, the audience and Perth Concert Hall staff for making the event such a great success. Full results can be seen below:
Results
Adjudicators: Paul Holland & Steven Mead
Test Piece: Own choice
1. Kingdom Brass (Paul Drury) — 190
2. Bathgate (Craig Anderson) — 187
3. Coalburn Silver (Gareth Bowman) — 186
4. Johnstone Band (Mark Good) — 185
5. Granite City Brass (Bruce Wallace) — 184
6. Regent Brass (Alan Duguid) — 183
7. Lochgelly (Paul McKelvie) — 182
8. Broxburn & Livingston (Alistair Gibson) — 181
9. Perthshire Brass (George D Annan) — 180
10. Dysart Colliery Silver (Kenneth Letham) — 179
11. Kilmarnock Concert Brass (Scott Walker) — 178
Highest Placed 1st Section Band: Kingdom Brass
Highest Placed 2nd Section Band: Lochgelly Brass
Highest Placed 3rd Section Band: Dysart Colliery
Highest Placed 4th Section Band: Kilmarnock Concert Brass
Best Horn Section: Kingdom Brass
4BR Best Soloist: Grant Charleston (euphonium) — Kingdom Brass
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