One of Belgium’s rising talents gave an exhibition of their quality in Dover on the weekend, as Brass Band Heist completed a commanding victory at the DFDS Seaways Entertainment Contest.

Growing CV

Conducted by Bert Van Thienen, the band which was only formed in 2004, added the inaugural DFDS Seaways title to their ever growing CV of contesting firsts, which already includes five National wins at lower section level and the First Division Kerkrade World Championship crown in 2009.

Heist lived up to its name too, grabbing the £5,000 first prize and a recording contract, which they hope to complete later in the year, from under the noses of much more fancied pre-contest rivals.

Strong challenge

Regent Brass directed by Alan Duguid upset the odds by coming second, four points behind the winners, with pre-contest favourites Redbridge Brass and Zone One Brass having to be content with joint third place.

Sparkling trom

The £1,000 prize for the highest placed non Championship band also went to Belgium too, as Brass Band Ghent directed by Lieven Dobbelaere came fifth.

The‘Best Soloist’ Award, which also came with a recording contract, was won by a sparkling trombone performance of ‘Bluebells of Scotland’ by Tetsura Okamura of Regent Brass.

Gent’s performance included the Welsh hymn tune ‘Aberystwyth’, the euphonium solo ‘Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair’ and ended with ‘Brass Triumphant’ by Gareth Wood.

Lovely experience

"The whole event was a lovely experience," the winning MD Bert Van Thienen said with modest understatement when speaking to 4BR.

"We played very well and delivered a performance that I felt showed off all our qualities as a band – from the hymn tune ‘Blaenwern’ and cornet solo ‘Miss Blue Bonnet’ played by Raf Van Looveren to our main piece, ‘Masquerade’ by Philip Wilby’."

This shows just how much progress we have made in the past couple of years. We now want to be able to compete on a more regular basis against the best bands in the UKBert Van Thienen

Wilby close

Heist opened with the Welsh hymn tune before Bert’s life-long banding friend and principal cornet delivered his solo contribution. They then choreographed themselves in standing positions for the Wilby test piece to close.

The performance certainly caught the ear of the panel of adjudicators, Graham Harvey, John Harper and Kenneth Peers sat in the open in the contest hall.

"Superbly controlled and balanced throughout, this was a highly polished performance," wrote one, whilst another added: "There was fantastic control and agility on display throughout with a real ear for texture and balance." The third added: "The ppp playing was spellbinding."

Lost bari and euph

The band also had to overcome something of a pre-contest scare too, when they were faced with the prospect of a mysterious lost baritone and with their star euphonium player Glen Van Looy having to make it to the contest having played at the Norwegian Championships in Bergen less than 24 hours earlier.

Thankfully, Glen’s sat-nav got him to the venue in plenty of time, whilst the friendly rivalry between bands saw former Black Dyke star Rob Richardson, now with Zone One Brass lend his instrument to Heist’s player – with prize winning results!

Thanks

"We can’t thank Rob enough," Bert said. "As soon he knew the situation he offered his instrument right away. We owe him a few Belgian beers!"

Thankfully the original instrument was found in some bushes not far from the band’s hotel – one heist that didn’t quite go to plan!

Looking forward

Bert is now looking forward to the rest of the contesting year.

"This shows just how much progress we have made in the past couple of years. We now want to be able to compete on a more regular basis against the best bands in the UK – perhaps try and get an invitation to compete at the Spring Festival and one day qualify for the British Open."

Confidence boost

For runner up Regent Brass the result also gave them a huge boost of confidence ahead of the Area contest in Stevenage in a few weeks time.

MD Alan Duguid told 4BR that the adjudicators were impressed by the balance as well as the execution of their programme which started with the hymn tune ‘Blaenwern’ followed by the trombone solo ‘Bluebells of Scotland’ and Kenneth’s Hesketh’s ‘Masque’.

Balance

"It was difficult to try and find a balance for the 20 minutes we had," Alan said.

"The hymn tune and the solo were clear choices, especially Testsura on trombone who brought the house down with his brilliant playing. We opted for the Hesketh work as it gave us a better opportunity to show off our strengths."

The result means that the band is now really looking forward to the challenge of ‘Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’. "This is a huge boost to our confidence. We know it will be very different challenge against the top bands at Stevenage, but this shows we have the ability and the boost to our confidence has been immense."

Surprise

For the fancied runners of Redbridge and Zone One Brass, there was disappointment, although there was still a great deal of surprise that the current London Area champions didn’t manage to push the eventual winners closer, despite a fine solo rendition from Cliff Pask with ‘Rusalka’s Song to the Moon’ and a reprise of their Butlins test piece, ‘Un Vie de Matelot’.

Local news

Contest organiser Graham Harvey was very pleased by the success of the inaugural event, which also gained invaluable television coverage too, with an extended feature on local news, with interviews with players and conductors.

"We are very pleased how thing went for the first event. The concept of running this 'Open contest' was a success overall and the majority of the feedback that we have had has been very positive."

Full Result:
Adjudictors: Graham Harvey, John Harper, Kenneth Peers

1. Brass Band Heist (Bert Van Thienen) — 92
2. Regent Brass (Alan Duguid) — 88
3= Redbridge Brass (Jeremy Wise) — 87
3= Zone One Brass (Richard Ward) — 87
5. Brass Band Gent (Lieven Dobbelaere) — 81
6. Medway Band (Melvin White) — 77
7. Alder Valley Brass (Roger Burke) — 76
8. Ipswich & Norwich Co-op Band (Roland Morris) — 70
9= Horsham Brass (Linda Cole) — 68
9= Betteshanger Colliery (Steve McIntyre) — 68
11. LGB Brass (Ian Stewart) — 63

Prizes:
£5,000
£1,000 to highest placed non championship band

Solo Award:

1. Tetsura Okamura (Regent Brass) – 87
2. Cliff Pask (Redridge Brass) – 80
3. Elaine Williams (Medway Band) — 79