2004 : Back To Switzerland

The year began with the slow build up to the Area contest, which this year featured a complex piece called Tristan Encounters. In late February, the band played a concert in the Blackburn Hall in Rothwell, where the first half consisted of serious music including a performance of the Area test piece, and the second half included lighter music with the band starting out in Big Band formation.

The Area contest was a great success, with the band achieving sixth place behind some of the best bands in the world. (Contest Report). Just after the Area, the band took part in a joint concert with the Backbeat Percussion Quartet, at Leeds Grammar School. Backbeat played for the entire first half, and then the Temperance band took over for the second half. This was an excellent concert which was thoroughly enjoyed by the large audience. Some pictures are available of the concert, courtesy of Leeds Grammar School. March also saw the marriage of Rebecca Yeo, our repiano cornet player, to Richard Marshall, principal cornet of the Grimethorpe band.

Early in April the band put on their annual Big Band Spectacular at the Blackburn Hall, which this year featured over four hours of live music. The band were joined by the Leeds Grammar School Swing Band, and played a wide variety of music both new and old. Our guest vocalist this year was Sheldon Bonner from Leeds Grammar School, who sang several numbers including Young at Heart and My Kind Of Town. The evening was greatly enjoyed by the sell-out audience.

At the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain course at Easter, several players connected with the band took part and some were awarded principal positions. Sophie Rhodes, our second baritone was awarded the principal baritone seat, Ben Rigeon, was awarded the principal Bb bass position, and Thomas Hutchinson was awarded third place in the cornet section.

At the end of April, one of our semi-regular percussion deps, Lucy Beeson, qualified through to the percussion final of the Young Musician of the Year contest, and was placed first. This entitled Lucy to play in the final with the other instrument winners with a full orchestra, where she acquitted herself well but did not come away with a prize.

May has, in recent years, become the month of two contests, which was always hard work. The first contest in the month was the Grand Shield in Blackpool, from which the band were trying to come in the top two (actually top three this year) in order to qualify for the British Open in Birmingham in September. The band were placed an excellent second (Contest Report) and therefore would not have to compete at this contest next year. This would allow us a good run up to the Masters in 2005, which had historically always taken second place to the Grand Shield, and so had never really had our full attention. This year's Masters contest in Cambridge at the end of May was a good example, where the band were tired and didn't play very well on stage (Contest Report) resulting in them being placed 15th. A couple of weeks after the contest it was announced that the 2005 Masters would be thrown open to International Bands, with only the top eleven bands from this year's contest being invited back next year. So much for the band having a clear run at the contest next year, and they had now gone from two contests in May 2004 to none in May 2005.

July saw the usual summer player moves, which Will Porter, our principal trombone, leaving for a year in Chicago as part of his degree course. He was replaced by Steven Haynes for the two contests in September, as Steven was home for the summer from his degree. We also signed Richard Golding to the front row cornets. Richard was principal cornet of the Rochdale Youth Band at started a degree at York University in September. The band sent even more players to the summer National Youth course. Steven Haynes, Ben Ridgeon and Sophie Rhodes all took part again after being principals at the Easter course, Thomas Hutchinson also attended, and Rebecca Robertson made her debut. At the end of July, there was the second band wedding of the year, which Tim Hammond and Joanna Ward getting married at Rothwell Church. The band played many pieces at the service and several members attended the meal and reception.

The band decided not to have their annual summer break this year, due to the two contests coming up in September, the British Open and the Swiss Open. However, much of the normal rehearsal time was spent in sectionals so most members of the band got a couple of weeks of at one point or another. At the end of August, the band held an inter-band cricket match against the Yorkshire Building Society band. In a freak accident, the YBS Wicket Keeper (Mike Walsh, 2nd Baritone) threw the ball back to the bowler with force, but it slipped out of his hand and the ball hit Rothwell's Conductor, Dave Roberts, squarely in the right eye. Dave suffered a broken cheekbone and a massive black eye. By coincidence, this incident took place four days before the band were due to have their picture taken for the centre band feature in Brass Band World, but the picture was digitally cleaned up to make Dave look more human.

September was this year even more intense than May for rehearsals and contests. On Wednesday 15th September the band played a concert in Howden Minster, as part of a larger concert season. The stage was far too small for the band, and most of the percussion equipment ended up on the floor beside the stage, about six foot below the rest of the band. The following Saturday the band travelled to Birmingham to compete at the British Open (Contest Report). Although the band produced what we thought was an excellent performance on stage, we were placed a disappointing fifteenth overall. We will need to do better next year or else we will be relegated back to the Grand Shield from 2006.

The following weekend the band travelled back to Switzerland to take part in the Swiss Open (Contest Report), scene of the band's win in 2000. The band had a fantastic weekend, but were oddly placed last at the contest, the first time the band have ever been placed last in a contest. Dave Roberts said, "I am so proud of the players. They showed what a wonderful bunch of people we have here. Despite being in a state of shock by the result the players took it in an impeccable manner. There are no remarks from the adjudicators but I can only guess that they didn't take into account that some pieces were much more difficult than others. I've heard a rumour that they thought we were too loud, but I would never let the band overblow as I hate it. We played well. We took twelve players with us who competed here in 2000, and returned with a much stronger band, only to be placed last by seven points." The band were helped with money this month by two generous donations. The first was from Glyn Thompson's dad, ho agreed to cover the cost of the coach to Birmingham for the British Open. The second was from Gordon and Eileen Roberts, who donated £500 towards the cost of competing at the two contests. The band would like to thank them all.

At the beginning of October, the band staged a private rehearsal with the adjudicators for the National Championships to help familiarise the men in the box with the new composition, All The Flowers Of The Mountain. Conductor David Roberts said, "I think the adjudicators and publishers should be commended, and the bands drawn early should feel happy that the adjudicators have done extensive work on the music." October also saw an influx of new players, with the start of the new University term. Andrew White on solo trombone joined to cover for Will's year out in Chicago. James Hartley, another member of the National Youth band, joined on Eb bass from Dinnington Colliery. Samantha Robson joined on the back row from the Greggs Bakery Band, and replaced Rebecca Robertson who left to join the Yorkshire Imps. John Turnbull also joined on percussion from Aveley and Newham.

In early November, a quartet from the band took part in the British Open Quartet Championships in Hyde Town Hall and were placed second, beating quartets from The Fairey Band and Hepworth amongst others. The competition was won by a quartet from Brass Band Willebroek. The RTB Quartet consisted of Dave Roberts, Andy Riley, Les McCormack and Matthew Allsop. David Read and Roy Newsome said it was a sensitive reading with good balance and a brilliant cornet sound in the slow movement. David Roberts was extremely pleased with the result, which saw his return to competitive playing after many years conducting.

In the middle of November, the band recorded some music for the popular Listen To The Band programme on Radio 2. This took place in Morley Town Hall, with the recording being done by technicians from the BBC. The band performed several pieces, many of which had been arranged especially for the band, and the show will be broadcast on the 1st April 2005.

December, the band held their annual Christmas Party and Award Ceremony at the Rugby club, which as always was very well attended. This years awards were presented by Ed Hodkin and Paul Argyle, assisted by Billy Parkinson. The usual band helpers got awards along with several for performances throughout the year. The annual Christmas concerts in the Blackburn Hall were again almost a sell out both nights, and were followed by a concert at Leeds Grammar School featuring the Junior School Choir, School Saxophone Group and the Temperance Band. Santa paid a visit and even gave the drummers some chocolate...

The year ended with the usual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at Rothwell Church, playing around the tree on Christmas Eve and playing around Rothwell on Christmas Day. There was some sad news at this event, when it was announced that Jamie Ogden, the band's principal euphonium, would have to leave the band. His dad had got a new job and was unable to ship him across the Pennines for each rehearsal. We were sad to see Jamie go, as he had been an excellent asset to the band.

All in all a good year for the band, with success at some major contests, and also some disappointing results. We look forward to a quiet time next year on the competitive front, with only two contests planned in 2005, the Area and the British Open. There are, however, many concerts in the pipeline and the band look forward to another excellent year.