2008 Brass in Concert Championship - The Adjudicators
12-Nov-2008These are the men the bands and soloists have to impress this year.
Music: Professor David King and Dr Stephen Roberts
Professor David King:
Australian by birth, David King is regarded as one of the most dynamic figures in the world of brass today. With an enviable record of musical accomplishments and successes both as an instrumentalist and conductor he is at the forefront of music education and is Head of Performance Studies at the University of Salford, the largest music department in the British university sector.
David King studied Trumpet and Cornet at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and music education at Avondale College, NSW, where he studied choral conducting with Alan Thrift, graduating in 1978.
In 1982 as Australian cornet champion he was awarded a scholarship to study band musicianship at Salford College, Manchester, where he graduated with distinction in Performance in 1985.
In Britain David King pursued a distinguished career as a cornet soloist and was 'North of England Solo Champion' on three occasions (1983/84/85). He represented the United Kingdom as 'British Open Solo Champion' and won the prestigious title 'International Brass Musician of the Year' in Auckland, New Zealand in 1992.
In December, 2000 David King graduated from the Institute for Social Research, University of Salford, with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree majoring in Performance and has since been awarded his professorship.
As a conductor Dr David King holds a prominent position in Europe and is revered as one of the most successful conductors on the concert and contest platform in the last decade. He has represented England in the European Brass Band Championships on eight occasions as a conductor and has won the title seven times, twice with Black Dyke Mills Band (1990 & 91) and eight times with the Yorkshire Building Society Band (1996/1997/1999/2000/2001/2002, 2003 and 2004).
At the end of 2006 he announced his decision to end his association with the YBS Band after 13 unprecedented years of success. He continues to work at Salford University.
Dr Stephen Roberts:
Born in London, Stephen Roberts studied French horn at the Royal College of Music and subsequently gained a PHD in composition at the University of Birmingham. For twenty years he was hornist with the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble, giving over two thousand concert and broadcasts in more than sixty countries. He has also performed with all the major orchestras in the UK and taken part in hundreds of commercial recording sessions for film, radio and television.
His successful performing career has always been mirrored by his composing, conducting and teaching activities. He is currently Professor of Orchestration & Arranging at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall, as well as Associate Conductor and Composer in Residence of the English Symphony Orchestra.
Stephen Roberts’ numerous brass arrangements for both band and ensemble are internationally performed and his version of Holst Planets Suite was chosen for the 2003 British Open Brass Band Championship.
His Sinfonia for Brass, Percussion & Strings, commissioned by BBC Radio 3, was recently broadcast on Radio 3 by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and is scheduled for more performances in 2009. Earlier this year (2008) he reconstructed a new horn concerto by Mozart from recently discovered sketches, and performed and directed the world premiere, which was featured on BBC radio.
Stephen’s association with brass bands started in 1980 when he became musical director of the Jones & Crossland Band and enjoyed considerable success in contests, winning the Midland Area Championship, The Grand Shield, The Pontins Championship, The Rothman's Entertainment Contest and a prize in the National Finals within his first year of ‘banding'.
He later became director of the Desford Colliery Band for whom he wrote and recorded the music for the Carlton TV series The Real Brassed Off.
He has also been guest conductor with most of the UK’s best-known bands.
As a member of ABBA, Stephen has acted as adjudicator at numerous contests, including the British Open, the National Area Championships, Brass in Concert, the Scottish Open and the North American Brass Band Championships. In March 2008 he acted as principal adjudicator for the Australian National Band Championships held at Brisbane.
Entertainment: Andrew Berryman and David Horsfield
Andrew Berryman:
Andrew is the Principal Trombone with the Halle Orchestra, a position he has held since 1988. He is also the trombone tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music, Salford University and Chethams School of Music.
As a soloist Andrew has performed with, the Halle, the Ulster Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra and many of the countries leading Brass Bands. In recent years he has become more involved as a conductor and is currently the Musical Director of Wingates Brass Band.
Since this appointment the band has had success in the French Open, the US Open, the Senior Cup and the Area contests. Andrew has also developed strong connections with Michael Nyman culminating with Michael’s appointment as the bands honorary president. This year will see this relationship developing further with the recording of Wingates second ‘Nyman Brass’ CD.
Andrew has given clinics and masterclasses in most of the UK’s leading places of higher education and abroad at Julliard, Manhatten School of Music and The Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.
Norway has been part of Andrew’s busy schedule for the past ten years and has included adjudicating at Siddis Brass and this year at the Norwegian Championships.
This year Andrew has been appointed as the Northern and Midlands Regional Co-ordinator for the BTS (British Trombone Society) and is looking forward to this challenging role.
Andrew also plays with Halle Brass and Halle Rock and is very active in the Halle education department and in recent years has worked as an animateur.
David Horsfield:
David has figured in every facet of the brass band movement over the past fifty years; player, band trainer, adjudicator and music publisher. He is the youngest principal cornetist ever to wear the purple and gold uniform of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band at the age of sixteen, having been invited to join the famous band after playing cornet for three years with his first band, Clifton and Lightcliffe.
Eric Ball was professional conductor of B & R and David recalls some memorable contests and concerts under the baton of the great man. When he made his debut on Principal Cornet at the British Open Championship in 1960, Alex Mortimer directed the band. David won many solo competitions and was also a member of the B & R Quartet which won the title of National Champions in 1962.
After nine years he moved “up the road” to Black Dyke Mills Band, where he stayed for seven years, during which time he was on repiano cornet. Three National Championships, one World Championship and two British Open titles were awarded to Dyke in this period.
When James Shepherd formed his Versatile Brass in 1972, David was among the original personnel, staying with this talented combination for twelve years, where he was the featured Flugel Horn soloist. Having been a member of such talented bands it is not surprising that David has toured many countries of the world, these including Australia, USA, Canada, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Norway and Switzerland.
His move to the other side of the brass band scene came in 1984 when he retired from playing in order to concentrate on his music publishing business Kirklees Music and since that time the family business has expanded to such an extent that today music and recordings from their catalogue find there way to all parts of the world.
Over the years the Company has produced many high profile works from top composers Philip Wilby, Michael Ball and John Pickard and this has given David invaluable experience at the very top level of publishing.
When the Association of Brass Band Adjudicators was formed he was the first secretary of this organisation and is on the official list for the National Championship contests. He has worked in a number of European countries as adjudicator including Belgium, France, Holland, Norway and Switzerland, together with numerous engagements for him to “sort out the bands” throughout the United Kingdom.
To crown his musical career, David was a member of the famous “Kings of Brass” which was formed in 1995 and played its last memorable concert in 2001.
Soloist Award: Ian Bousfield
Ian Bousfield was born in York in 1964 and began playing the trombone at the age of seven, his first teacher being his father, a trumpet player. Like so many of England's top brass players, Ian's musical roots are firmly planted in the British brass band scene, having been solo trombone in the National Youth Brass Band at thirteen, and for four years solo trombone with the Yorkshire imperial band, during which time they won the British, National and Yorkshire championships.
In 1979 Ian became the youngest ever winner of the London Symphony Orchestra Music Scholarship and in 1980 he joined the European Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado where he stayed for two years. After only six months of study at the Guildhall School of Music in London he became solo trombone with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester and in 1988 he was appointed solo trombone of the London symphony Orchestra, only the fourth in the Orchestra's history, a position he held until September 2000 when he joined the Wiener Staatsoper Orchestra.
During his time in the LSO Ian played on the sound tracks to "Star Wars", "Braveheart" and "Titanic" as well as many others, film music being very much part of the London orchestral life.
Along side his Orchestral career Ian has had an extremely busy solo life, appearing as soloist with the World's top Brass Bands on a regular basis and touring extensively with his wife Alison Procter (piano) playing recitals. Ian has appeared as a soloist with the Halle and the London Symphony on many occasions and has recorded a CD with the London Philharmonic and with the BBC Philharmonic as well as having made a solo CD for EMI as part of their "Virtuosi" series.
Ian was appointed professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1992, a position he still holds having recently been awarded Honorary membership of the Academy. In addition to his commitments in London Ian has been since 2002 an advisor to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
He has given recitals, masterclasses and workshops at the Juilliard School and the Universities of Indiana, Illinois, Toronto, Montreal and Southern Texas as well as having coached the British National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Brass Band, the Pacific Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Brass Band of Switzerland and the New World Symphony in Miami.
He has also been a guest professor at the Tanglewood festival as a guest of the Empire Brass Quintet.
In December 2003 Ian was accepted into the Verein (club) of the Vienna Philharmonic, the first ever in the orchestra's history to come from the U.K.
Ian lives in the Vienna woods, supports Leeds United Football Club and his hobbies include French cooking and the wines of Burgundy.
