28th May 2006 - International Masters
Adjudicators: John Berryman, David Read, Geoffrey Whitham
Test Piece: Paganini Variations, Philip Wilby
Venue: Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Following on from the success of last year’s International Masters contest, this year more foreign bands were attracted, including one from as far away as Australia: Brisbane Excelsior. The current European champions Willebroek (Belgium) were also in attendance, along with Brass Band 13 Etoiles (Switzerland) and Brass Band Rijnmond (Holland).
The set test this year was Paganini Variations by Philip Wilby. We had played this piece twice before, winning the contest with it both times. The first of these was at Pontins in 2000, and the second was at the Senior Cup in 2003. The Masters was, however, a stronger field than we had competed against before and we needed to play the piece even better to do well. The band has progressed year on year since these contests and we felt more than capable of doing the piece justice and getting a good result.
The run-up to the contest was fairly quiet, although Paul Argyle’s other half Lucy was due to give birth a couple of weeks after the contest. There was a slight worry that the baby would come early and Paul was missing for most of the rehearsal on the Friday night before the contest, but everything settled down again, and he travelled down with us on the Saturday afternoon.
The band was staying down in Cambridge again this year, and were rehearsing in a local primary school the night before the contest. The run through of the piece in this practice went very well and the band then retired to a pub for a buffet dinner, confident of being able to put on a good performance at the contest.
On the morning of the contest we received news that Lucy had gone into labour. The band drew number nine for the contest, and so were due on stage at about 1:00pm. Paul elected to stay with us, and arrangements were made to get him back home as soon as we had played. The band had a good warm-up rehearsal and then travelled into Cambridge for the contest. Thankfully this year we didn’t get lost (see last year’s contest report).
The band played very well on stage, playing the piece exactly as we intended, with some superb performances by the band’s soloists. The crowd gave us an enthusiastic welcome, and seemed to like our interpretation. The band then got changed back into their walking out uniforms and retired to local hostelries for refreshment.
Paul Argyle found that Lucy had given birth just as he was leaving the stage, and he was a proud father of Harry, born at 1:27pm.
Come results time, many members of the band were in the hall to listen to the results. At the Masters there is a soloists prize, awarded to the best instrumentalist on the day. We were stunned to hear that this was awarded to our euphonium player, Andy Marsh. This is usually a good indicator of a band that has done well in the contest, so we listened to the results with renewed confidence.
When all the placings up to second had been announced there were some very worried players in the hall. Fodens, who many people had tipped to be one of the best performances of the day, had still not been given a place. The result at this point was probably between us and them. The band erupted when they were announced in first place.
The full results were:
1. Rothwell Temperance (David Roberts) draw 9 2. PolySteel (Philip Harper) 17 3. Brass Band Willebroek (Frans Violet) 15 4. Scottish Co-op (Nicholas Childs) 4 5. Brass Band Treize Etoiles (Geo Pierre Moren) 16 6. Hepworth (Persimmon Homes) (Mark Bentham) 21 7. Fodens Richardson (Garry Cutt) 11 8. Kirkintilloch (Steve Bastable) 7 9. Reg Vardy (Ray Farr) 20 10. Brisbane Excelsior (Howard Taylor) 8 11. Sellers International (Phillip McCann) 19 12. Bedwas Trethomas and Machen (BTM) (Jason Katsikaris) 12 13. Desford Colliery (Ian McElligott) 18 14. Brassband Rijnmond (Erik Janssen) 2 15. 1st Old Boys Association Silver (Stephen Cairns) 3 16. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery (Russell Gray) 6 17. SWT Woodfalls (Dave Barringer) 10 18. Whitburn (Andrew Duncan) 1 19. Aveley and Newham (Nigel Taken) 5 20. GUS (David Stowell) 13 21. Redbridge (Melvin White) 14This was a stunning result for the band, which was a just reward for an excellent performance on stage. It was the band’s first win at a 'major’ contest, and it now completes a hat trick of wins on Paganini Variations.
Thanks to:
- Dai Hale and David Giblin for helping out on the front row.
- Steven Haynes for stepping in on second trombone to cover for Alison Stockdale.
The band can now look forward to the last two prestigious contests of the year: the British Open in September and the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall in October.
Tim Sawyer
Percussion
10th June 2006
Photos
 Pre-contest band photo |
 Winners of the All England Masters |
 Winners of the Gurning Contest |
