2006 4BR Awards - The Results

25-Dec-2006

All had enough Christmas pud and turkey? Then sit back and relax as we reveal the award winners for 2006. Maestro please.....

Awards The 4BR team has spent the last day and a half wading through the thousands of nominations from we received from our readers from all over the world. Many thanks for taking the time to log in and tell us who you thought were the best in each of the categories.

There were a couple of people who did try and circumvent the voting process as always with multiple entries (school computer use was way up this year), but they were not successful, whilst we had more than a chuckle or two at some of the nominations put forward as well � some were inspired in their deviousness.

Still, the results have been checked and double-checked and now that you have had your fair share of turkey and Christmas pudding we can reveal each of the winners.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time once more to vote, and congratulations to the winners.

Band of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

Grimethorpe Colliery (UK Coal) Band

It was a two way fight for the most prestigious award between the two giants of Yorkshire banding, Grimethorpe and Black Dyke. In the end it was the perhaps the overall impression of brilliance that Grimey gave throughout the year that gave them the edge with the voters � but it was very close indeed, with Grimethorpe gaining 41% of the vote and Black Dyke 40%.

Behind them there was something of a three way battle led by Brass Band Willebroek and followed by Brass Band of Central Florida and Eikanger Bjorsvik all of whom shared around 12% of the remaining votes.

Other notable nominations came in respect to Brighouse and Rastrick, BAYV, Fribourg, YBS and Fodens Richardson amongst the 20 plus others who got a vote.

Conductor of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

Allan Withington

And just as close came the fight for the most prestigious individual award, with Allan Withington and Nicholas Childs fighting tooth and nail to claim your votes. Once more they were a considerable distance ahead of the rest with the Norwegian based Englishman just taking the honours with 40% of the vote to 38% for the Welshman.

Behind them there was an excellent showing for young Elliot Darwin who came just ahead of some notable conducting talent in the form of David King, Richard Evans, Arsene Duc, Frans Violet, Chris Wormald, Robert Childs, Sharon Stansfield, Alan Lawton and Duncan Beckley to name but a few of the 40 plus MDs who got a mention.

Player of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

Katrina Marzella

Just about as clear a winner this year as David Childs last year. The brilliant young Scotswoman polled 51% of the votes cast to take yet another award in what has been a fantastic last 12 months.

Second place went to Roger Webster with 16% of the vote, with Steven Mead in third with 14%.

There were also notable nominations for Bert van Thienen, Ben Thompson, Kirsty Abbotts, Tormod Flaten, Richard Marshall, David Childs, David Thornton, Alex Kerwin, Kevin Crockford and Michelle Ibbotson amongst close on 50 players who got a mention.

CD/DVD of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

Heaton � Volume 4
Black Dyke Band
Conductor: Nicholas Childs
SPS Recordings: SPS218CD
Total Playing Time: 63.27

This was a real battle between a number of CD releases, but Black Dyke's fantastic final chapter in the Heaton retrospective just beat off their musical review of their 150th contesting year to take the honour.

'Heaton � Volume 4' received 25% of the votes, with �The Golden Year' gaining 22%. Close behind came another retrospective in the form of '20 Supreme Years' by Eikanger Bjorsvik that gained 17% of the votes cast.

There after there were a whole host of notable nominations and votes cast for the likes of �The Lighter side of Elgar Howarth' and �Brass Band Classics � Volume 5', both by BAYV Band, Black Dyke's �Christmas Carol', �Brass Band Aid', �Chatham Dances' by Eikanger, �Festive Impressions' by YBS, the DVD's of the 2005 Brass in Concert and the 2006 European Championships, �Nyman' by Wingates Band, �Cool' by Reg Vardy and many more including Smithills Schools in Dublin, which was a new one on us in a field of over 40 nominations in total.

Solo CD of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

Steven Mead
The World of the Euphonium - Volume 5
Accompanied by: Tomoko Sawano (piano); Lucy Haslar (harp)
Polyphonic Recordings: QPRZ 026D
Total Playing Time: 79.31mins

Another artist who battled somewhat against himself for the award this year, with his �Euphonium Virtuoso' release coming a close second in the solo CD release stakes.

It was this fantastic release � the fifth in the World of the Euphonium series that really captured the imagination though and took 32% of the votes cast with Steven's other major release gaining 25%. It goes to show just how good this man is becoming with age.

In third pace came another euphonium player � this time the Norwegian, Tormod Flaten with his �Norwegian Euphonium' release, which gained 10% of the votes, whilst yet another brilliant exponent of the instrument, David Childs with his Welsh Connection' just behind.

Other notable nominations to gain votes were for the releases of Ian Bousfield, Brett Baker (twice), Alex Kerwin and Ricki McDonnell, David Childs (a second time), Childs Brothers and quite a few others.

Lower Section Band of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

Pennine Brass

Clear winners here for the Yorkshire based band, which really did enjoy a great year despite the disaster at Bradford. Ian Porthouse and his band polled 38% of the votes cast in what has become one of the most hard vote categories to win over the years. This year there were over 80 bands that got nominations.

In second place came Brass Band Oberoesterrich with 13% with Mount Charles Youth in third with 10%.

Then there was a whole plethora of nominations that had a ground swell of support with the likes of Smithills Schools, Dodworth MW, Oldham (Lees), Greater Gwent Youth Band, Long Eaton, Kibworth, St Keverne, Marsden, Newbridge (Celynen), Chalford. There were many, many more�

Newcomer of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

English National Championship

Something of a surprise perhaps given that the event didn't get off to the greatest of starts on the day when the pride of English football fell flat on its collective face in Germany, but the voters seem to really like the idea of a qualification process for English representation at the Europeans and gave it a very encouraging thumbs up with 41% of the vote.

That was just enough to push the excellent Yorkshire Youth Brass Band in second place with 30% and with Richard Kidd from the Whitburn band leading the pack behind to gain third spot with 9% of the votes cast.

After that it was a bit of a free for all with close on 50 different bands, events, instruments, players, conductors, composers and even some adjudicators getting mentions of note.

Some to make it close to the podium were Elaine Agnew, composer of the European B Section set work, Iain Culross, Ben Thompson again, Peter Moore and young Stephen Sykes on the player front, Pontins British Open Youth Championships, the new LMI range of instruments, Elliott Darwin, Martin Winter (presumably for his adjudicating), Brisbane Excelsior and Derek Broadbent (presumably for his new leadership of ABBA) amongst different types of nominees.

Test Piece of the Year

And the 2006 winner is�

'Vienna Nights' by Professor Philip Wilby

In the end we had to start weighing the votes here � it was like an old style Soviet Union election.

Philip Wilby's amazing work polled 66% of the votes cast � a real reflection of its popularity and the impression it made at the British Open. It will surely become a classic of the genre.

With no disgrace, Alan Fernie's �Anglian Dances' came second with 8% (a sign that good lower section band compositions are enjoyed by many) with Philip Sparke's �Dances and Allelulias' in third with 5% (perhaps a sign that it would have got more votes if people had heard it first hand).

After that there were plenty of nominations for new and old, and the slightly obscure, with the likes of �Journey to the Centre of the Earth', �The Promised Land', �Purcell Variants', �Little Christmas', �Klang' and �Judges of the Secret Court' all getting a mention or two.

Contest Performance of the Year:

And the 2006 winner is�

Black Dyke
�Vienna Nights' � 2006 British Open

Another clear cut winner this with the Queensbury band's scintillating performance of the Wilby Master Opus gaining 55% of the votes cast � an indication of just how well they played on the day.

Second place went to Grimethorpe's brilliant performance at the Yorkshire regional Championships on �Journey to the Centre of the Earth' that gained them 15%, whilst Eikanger's performance of �Riffs and Interludes' at the Europeans just pipped BAYV's �The Promised Land' into third with 8% to their 6%.

There were also notable nominations for Rothwell at the Masters, Fodens Richardson at both the Masters and English National Championship, Grimethorpe at London, BAYV at London and British Open, Brass Band Fribourg at the European, Brass Band of Central Florida, Brighouse and Grimethorpe at Brass in Concert, Willebroek on the set work at Belfast, Pennine at the Areas, Dodworth at Harrogate and many, many more. There were over 50 nominations of note.