Two horn players from Exchange Communications Whitburn Band are celebrating after they were victorious at the recent Besson Scottish Solo and Ensemble Championships.

31 years

Iain Fleming, the band’s solo horn player, has become the Scottish Solo Champion for the fourth time – 31 years after he first won the title.

Iain also picked up the prize for Best Soloist over the age of 40 and second place in the slow melody contest, which was won by the band’s 19-year-old second horn player Rachel Neil.

Rachel also finished second to Iain in the ‘open’ solos and third in the youth solos, for players aged between 16 and 21.

It came as a real shock to win. I just turned up and gave it my best. I never expected to win as there are so many enthusiastic young players around these daysIain Fleming

Shock win

53-year-old Iain – a former player with Fairey and Hammonds, who is now a mature music student at Napier University in Edinburgh – has been the solo horn player with Whitburn for 26 years.

He is also one of the organisers and founding members of NOBBBS – the National Old Boys Brass Band of Scotland who, to date, have raised over £2,000 for a prostate cancer charity.

He modestly commented to 4BR: "It came as a real shock to win. I just turned up and gave it my best. I never expected to win as there are so many enthusiastic young players around these days."

Student delight

Rachel, a student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, was also delighted.

She added: "I'm extremely happy with my results from the Scottish Solo Championships as I had great results across the board in all three contests. Obviously winning the Slow Melody was the highlight as I was up against some really great players and I still managed to do well. All in all — a successful weekend!"

Dominated

The contests, which were adjudicated by tuba star Les Neish and trombonist Alistair Sinclair from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, were dominated by players from Whitburn.

Third place in both the open and slow melody contests was awarded to Whitburn’s solo cornet player Susannah Downs, who also picked up the Best Cornet accolade for her efforts.

Tuba winner

To round off the prizes, Graham Fraser won the Best Tuba award for the fourth time, while Michael Fleming, Whitburn’s first horn player and Iain’s son – finished fourth in both contests.