Despite the bad news for the British Federation of Brass Bands that the current Midlands Regional Champions, Virtuosi GUS, had pulled out of the English National Championships, there will be some cause for celebration after it was revealed that Skelmanthorpe had accepted the invitation to replace them at Preston Guild Hall in June.

Pleased

MD John Roberts was certainly pleased that the unfortunate withdrawal had given his rapidly improving band a rare chance to pit their wits against a strong line up of English rivals.

We have been aiming for the opportunity to play at this level for some timeJohn Roberts

Opportunity

"We have been aiming for the opportunity to play at this level for some time," John told 4BR.

"I know it comes due to a withdrawal, but we have been getting closer to automatic qualification in the past two years, so when it arose I thought it was the ideal chance for the band to prove itself against a very strong line up."

Competitive

John had hoped to gain an invitation to the English National or the Masters this year, so despite the challenge of preparing ‘Eden’ at shorter notice than usual, he is confident the band will be able to produce a competitive performance.

"'Eden' is a great work, but one I’m very familiar with. I know just how difficult it will be for the band, but I’m confident that we have the players to cope, and cope well with it. The band is developing slowly but very much in the right direction, and I think we will equip ourselves well at the Guild Hall."