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2004 Scottish Regional Championships
First Section
Saturday 14th March
Test Piece: Coventry Variations – Bramwell Tovey
Adjudicator: David Read and Alan Morrison
Moving to Sunday for the first time in since 1992, the Scottish
First Section promises to be a pretty close run affair as usual.
Both of the promoted bands from last year's Second Section are in
good shape and the ones entering from the Championship Section are
of the standard that would make you expect that they will want to
return there as soon as possible.
Add to this the existing contenders and we really could be in for
a treat, with the difficulties within "Coventry Variations"
providing both a testing and enjoyable platform for the competing
bands. There are a number of very ambitious bands in this contest,
not all of which can achieve what they hope for, so there will be
plenty of them crying in their beer on Sunday night.
Arbroath Instrumental
Conductor: M. Robertson
Last Eight Years:
2003: 2nd 2nd Section (prom) (8) (M. Robertson)
2002: 2nd 3rd Section (prom)
2001: Winners 4th Section (prom)
2000: 9th 4th Section
1999: 10th 3rd Section (rel)
1998: 11th 3rd Section
1997: 11th 2nd Section (rel)
1996: 8th 2nd Section
Following a hat-trick of promotions, the band from the North-East
and Scotland's only prize-winner in the 2003 Nationals will be in
optimistic mood for this one. They have some good young players
around the stand including Scottish Solo Finalist Iain Maxwell on
trombone. Mike Robertson will take a musical approach with the test-piece
as always and we expect them to do pretty well this time. Perhaps
further promotion would be a year too soon for them but they are
undoubtedly a band going the right direction.
Clackmannan District Brass
Conductor: J. Davies
Last Eight Years:
2003: 10th Championship (rel) (9) (J. Smith)
2002: 2nd 1st Section (prom)
2001: 3rd 1st Section
2000: 10th Championship (rel)
1999: 2nd 1st Section (prom)
1998: 4th 1st Section
1997: 9th Championship (rel)
1996: 8th Championship
A poor performance of "Prague" last year despatched Clackmannan
to a further spell in the Firstt Section and they will be keen to
bounce back straight away. They've brought in Jim Davis of Cory
and Brighouse fame to lead them and although they have enough quality
to perform well this time, the section is stronger than in previous
years and we think they'll need a good day to make it back at the
first attempt.
Dunaskin Doon
Conductor: J. Boax
Another band that's found it difficult to become established in
the Championship Section, John Boax's Ayrshire outfit have been
knocking on the door the last couple of years at this level. They're
pretty consistent and although they haven't been too active on the
contest front lately, we expect them to be challenging for a prize
again.
Last Eight Years:
2003: 3rd (2) (J.Boax)
2002: 4th
2001: 10th Championship (rel)
2000: 7th Championship
1999: 8th Championship
1998: 2nd (prom)
1997: 3rd
1996: 9th Championship (rel)
Granite City Brass
Conductor: D. James
Last Eight Years:
2003: 4th (5) (D. James) (UDI Aberdeen)
2002: 10th
2001: 6th
2000: 3rd
1999: 4th
1998: 7th
1997: 4th
1996: 5th
This will be Granite City's first Scottish Championship appearance
since their name change last year and although they could do with
a good result to avoid relegation, we think they are well equipped
to get it. A good performance at the Whitburn Contest in November
will give them confidence and with David James at the helm they
should find the long journey from Aberdeen worthwhile.
Johnstone Silver
Conductor: G. Lindsay
Last Eight Years:
2003: 5th (3) (R.Tennant)
2002: 9th Championship (rel)
2001: Winners (prom)
2000: Winners 2nd Section (prom)
1999: 10th (rel)
1998: 6th
1997: 6th
1996: 3rd
Former soprano star Gavin Lindsay makes his Scottish Championships
debut with Johnstone following the departure of Raymond Tennant
to Scottish Co-op last year. Johnstone had a short taste of the
Championship Section recently and they are well equipped for a return
this year. They have become known as entertainment contest specialists,
having had a fair bit of success over the years in that field, but
Gavin will ensure that they can adapt their style to suit the piece
and will have a good reading of this music. We think they will be
in the shake-up on Sunday.
Kirkintilloch Kelvin Brass
Conductor: A. Orr
Last Eight Years:
2003: 6th (7) (C. Bradley)
2002: 2nd 2nd Section (prom)
2001: 5th 2nd Section
2000: 2nd 3rd Section (prom)
1999: 2nd 4th Section (prom)
1998: 3rd 4th Section
1997: 9th 4th Section
1996: 10th 4th Section
The junior of the two bands from Kirkintilloch, Kirkie Kelvin have
made terrific progress through the sections over the last few years,
the highlight of which was their win in the Royal Albert Hall in
the 2000 Third Section National. This time they have tuba player
Alistair Orr in charge of them and they will be hoping to consolidate
on last year's 6th place on their first appearance at this level.
Further promotion might be a bit too soon for them just now, but
they should be strong enough to survive the drop.
Livingston Brass
Conductor: A Samson
Last Eight Years:
2003: 7th (4) (A. Samson)
2002: 3rd
2001: Winners 2nd Section (prom)
2000: Winners 3rd Section (prom)
1999: 11th 2nd Section (rel)
1998: 9th 2nd Section
1997: 8th 2nd Section
1996: DNC
Livingston have withdrawn from the contest.
Newmilns and Galston
Conductor: TBA
Last Eight Years:
2003: Winners 2nd section (6) (Craig Anderson)
2002: 9th
2001: 10th 1st Section (rel)
2000: 7th 1st Section
1999: 10th Championship (rel)
1998: 7th Championship
1997: 2nd 1st Section (prom)
1996: 6th 1st Section
Newly promoted Newmilns & Galston from Ayrshire have been strong
contenders in the lower sections over the years although their form
has fluctuated a bit in recent times. They are on the way up just
now though and with Craig Anderson conducting they will be well
prepared. They have a pretty strong cornet section and that will
serve them well on "Coventry Variations". A good result
in Fife in November will give them confidence following a disappointing
National in Dundee and we think that they could be close to securing
another spell in the top section.
Newtongrange Silver
Conductor: K. Wilkinson
Last Eight Years:
2003: 9th (5) Championship (Bryan Hurdley)
2002: 3rd Championship
2001: 6th Championship
2000: 5th Championship
1999: 6th Championship
1998: 3rd Championship
1997: 5th Championship
1996: 4th Championship
Every now and then, you find a band that somehow gets itself in
the wrong section and this is possibly the case with Newtongrange.
Very consistent performers for over 20 years in the Championship
Section, a surprising 9th place put them down last year and they
will be more keen than most to succeed in this one. On paper, they
have probably the strongest line-up in the contest, but band contests
don't take place on paper and their last two performances at Whitburn
and the Scottish Open were poor by their standards. They have brought
in an old friend from USA for this one, Keith Wilkinson, who led
them to their only Scottish Championship in 1991 and they will hope
that he will provide the inspiration for a swift return to the top
section. We don't think they will be far away.
Tayport Instrumental
Conductor: I. Davey
Last Eight Years:
2003: 8th (6) (R. MacDonald)
2002: 5th
2001: 2nd 2nd Section (prom)
2000: 9th (rel)
1999: 6th
1998: Winners 2nd Section (prom)
1997: 9th (rel)
1996: 7th
Fife's only representative in the First Section, Tayport will be
hoping to improve on last year's disappointment and they have managed
to secure the services of former Fairey's euphonium player Iain
Davey to help them do it. They had a disappointing result at the
Fife contest in November and will require an improvement in form
if they're to stay in the section. They were in the Championship
Section in the mid 90's but a return there is probably just beyond
them at the moment.
Results archive:
Full results of previous year's contests together with a results summary can
be found in our results archive.
Past
Qualifiers:
2003: Bathgate, Bon Accord
2002: Broxburn Public, Clackmannan District Brass.
2001: Johnstone Silver, Bo'ness and Carriden
2000: Bon Accord, Kingdom Brass
1999: Unison Kinneil, Clackmannan and District
1998: Longannet Colliery, Dunaskin Doon
1997: Broxburn Public, Newmilns and Galston
1996: Dalkeith and Monktonhall, Unison Kinneil
1995: Bon Accord, Clackmannan and District
Scottish Bands at the Finals:
2003: 10th, 17th
2002: 12th, 17th
2001: 6th, 9th
2000: 8th, 9th
1999: 2nd, 5th
1998: 2nd, 4th
4BR Prediction:
This one should be very close, with about 5 or 6 bands capable
of delivering the winning performance on their day. We've gone for
the bands with the experience in the top flight and when we threw
all the balls up in the air, this is how they landed:-
1. Newtongrange
2. Johnstone Silver
3. Granite City
4. Dunaskin Doon
5. Newmilns & Galston
6. Clackmannan & District
Dark Horse: Arbroath Instrumental
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