2006 English National Championships - Adjudicators

There will be three wise men in the box at the Lowry at the weekend - all three know what it takes to make a winning performance too.

William Relton:

William Relton is a member of the Council of the Royal Albert Hall and is included on the Panel of Assessors for the Arts Council of England "Arts for Everyone" Lottery Fund.

His lifetime involvement in music started at the age of fourteen when he joined the Brighouse and Rastrick band, being appointed solo cornet at the age of seventeen. After National Service, he took up the post of Sub Principal Trumpet and Principal Cornet of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and left the CBSO after three years to take up one of the first £1,000 bursaries at the Royal College of Music.

During his studies at the college, William Relton played with all the major London orchestras and for one season was at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He joined the Orchestra of Sadlers Wells Opera (now ENO) where he was Principal Trumpet.

In 1957 he joined the BBC, first as a player in the BBC Concert Orchestra, being later appointed music producer. In 1970 he became Orchestra Manager of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and was promoted to General Manager in 1975. He has worked with all the great conductors of our day, from Ashkenazy, Bernstein and Boulex to Zender and Zinman, and was successful in appointing both Gennadi Rozhdesvensky and Sir John Pritchard to the post of Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He was responsible for all the Orchestra's activities including tours of Australia, China, Jpan and most European countries.

He left the BBC to take up the post of General Manager of the Eastern Orchestral Board, where he was responsible for the financing of some 250 concerts per year given by professional symphony and chamber orchestras.

Recently he has devoted more time to conducting and adjudication, and is on the Management Committee of the Donatella Flick Conductors Competition.

William Relton has been a familiar face in the "box" at the since he made his "debut" in 1977 with Havelock Nelson and Buxton Orr. Since then he has appeared on another 15 occasions, including 9 years in a row from 1986 – 1994 and a further four consecutive years from 1997 – 2000. He has also adjudicated at the Open, Masters and European Championships as well as contests at all levels throughout Europe and the World.

Chris Wormald:

Chris Wormald became Director of Arts at Smithills School in 2003 having been the Head of Music since 1990, the year he also joined James Shepherd Versatile Brass.

Formerly a member of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, Chris was Head of Brass Instrumental Teaching for Bolton MBC LEA from 1983 to 1990 and also taught at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

He was Musical Director of Wingates at the 1998 All England Masters and British Open Championships where he was presented with the Mortimer Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians at Symphony Hall. He has conducted Brighouse & Rastrick, Besses o' th' Barn, Wingates and many top Championship section bands and as Musical Director has led many bands to numerous contest victories, concert highlights, broadcasts, CD recordings and national titles. Chris formed Smithills School Senior Brass Band in 1992, since when they have won a national or international title together every year consecutively to this day since 1994.

He has conducted his multiple National and BBC champions all over the World from Japan to the USA (twice), Norway to New Zealand at home in the Uk and in Europe, at the Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall in London some forty times to date as well as the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

Together Chris and the band have won the National Festival of Music For Youth for the past five years in succession,  seven times in the last eight years and remain undefeated in all contests and competitions stretching back over three years. As a horn player, after twenty five years of freelancing professionally in Northwest orchestras, Chris made his London debut in the Philharmonia Orchestra at The Barbican in 2003. 

Chris is a member of the National Association of Brass Band Conductors and Association of Brass Band Adjudicators in addition to being on the British Federation List of Adjudicators for all major national contests. He has won numerous contests, competitions, festivals and awards as a conductor, horn player, teacher and arranger and has adjudicated throughout the UK and Europe since 1991 including the Scottish Open Championships, Grand Shield (Senior Trophy) as well as the Yorkshire, Scottish and London Area Contests amongst other high profile events.  In 2006 Chris has already adjudicated at the London and Yorkshire area contests, the Muse Festival in Singapore and at many other events.

In 2001 Chris was named Classic FM Music Teacher of The Year and in 2002 was presented with both the Gerald Taylor Vocational Award and Brian Hicks Memorial Award for his continued success and outstanding dedication to brass bands.

Chris compiled much of the 2005/2006 Trinity College Brass Instrumental Examinations Syllabus and has been a guest speaker at the International Conference of Trinity College Music Examiners. His brass band arrangements continue to be published by both Wright & Round and Studio Music (London).

Derek Broadbent:

Derek commenced playing the cornet at the age of 9 with the Thornton Cleveleys Silver Band. After a services career spanning almost nine years, during which time he studied at Kneller Hall, the Royal Military School of Music, he returned to civilian life as a professional arranger.

He returned to the world of brass bands as a conductor in 1966 and in 1973 became Resident conductor of the internationally famous Brighouse and Rastrick Band. In his ten years with Brighouse, Derek enjoyed enormous success and in 1980 conduction them to a premier place in the National Championships. He was also responsible for their chart topping success of "The Floral Dance".

In 1984 he moved to the equally famous Black Dyke Mills Band and played an integral part in their 1985 "Grand Slam", a year which saw them take every major title in brass band contesting. Since 1990 Derek has worked as a freelance conductor, composer, arranger and adjudicator not only in the United Kingdom but all over the world. He was also Associate Professional Conductor with the Williams Fairey Band who also won every major title in the years 1993/1994.

His association with the Manx Youth Band commenced in 1984 and has been relatively unbroken ever since. He conducted the band on their successful tour of New Zealand's North Island in 1990 as Ian Clague was unavailable owing to the illness of his father. Apart from composing the Youth Band's signature March, Derek has also produced two major works commissioned by the Douglas Corporation "Music for a Centenary" for the 1996 Centenary of the Corporation and "Millennium Fanfare and Variations" premiered in 1999, both these works being for Band and Choir.

Derek now spends much of his time training bands all over the globe. Much of his time is devoted to the youth of the brass band movement. He is also the Music Editor for Wright and Round Ltd. and in 1988 was awarded the prestigious Isle's Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians for his services to brass music and youth education.

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