Whitburn Wins Again!
Despite their best efforts, a joint conspiracy between Covid and the climate wasn’t sufficient to put the kibosh on the first Scottish Festival of Brass in two years. There were a couple of casualties, however: First band to fall victim to the current Coronavirus situation was Rainford a week earlier who had to withdraw from the Scottish Open due “Covid issues” affecting a couple of its principal players. Then, on the eve of the festival, Chris Fower, director of Creativity and Innovation at the Warwick Music Group, who due to lead a workshop on the Saturday morning – demonstrating how to use pBuzz and contemporary music to engage and inspire a new generation of brass players – had to pull out of the event because his scheduled train journey to Perth was cancelled because of Storm Arwen. That same storm also put paid to 1st Old Boys being able to cross the water from Belfast to participate in the Scottish Open because of a ferry cancellation. The festival got back onto an even keel with concerts on the Saturday morning by the Coalburn Bronze and NYBBS children’s bands followed by the Scottish Open commencing at 1pm with The Kirkingtilloch Band’s performance of ‘...and when the river told...’
The withdrawals by Rainford and 1st Old Boys left 13 bands to battle it out during the afternoon. The competition took longer than usual because of the Covid precautions that were carried between each band taking the stage. At the end of the day, it was the performance of ‘Gallery’ by Whitburn, under the experienced direction of Prof. Nicholas Childs, that delighted adjudicators Steven Mead and Paul Holland the most. This latest win makes it seven consecutive Scottish Open victories since 2014 – by any measure, an outstanding achievement!
The full results can be seen below:
Results: Adjudicators: Paul Holland; Steven Mead
Own choice selection: '...and when the river told...' (Dobson); 'Gallery' (Snell); Macbeth (Meechan); 'Muckle Flugga' (Boyle); 'St Magnus' (Downie)
1. Whitburn (Prof Nicholas Childs) — 195
2. Reg Vardy (Steve Malcolm) — 192
3. Kirkintilloch Band (David Roberts) — 190
4. Easington Colliery (Ray Farr) — 189
5. the cooperation band (Mike Fowles) — 188
6. Bon-Accord Silver (Adam Cooke) — 187
7. Unison Kinneil (Raymond Tennant) — 186
8. Dalmellington (Gary Williams) — 185
9. Elland Silver (Daniel Brooks) — 184
10. East London Brass (Jayne Murrill) — 183
11. Fishburn (Lewis Wilkinson) — 182
12. Kirkintilloch Kelvin (David Thornton) — 181
13. Bo'ness & Carriden (Nigel Boddice MBE) — 180
Withdrew: Rainford; 1st Old Boys
4BR Best Soloist: Scott Forest (soprano) — Whitburn
Besson Best Euphonium: Andrew Hedley (Reg Vardy)
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