OBAF Cup
The 2012 Ohio Brass Arts Festival (OBAF) is in the books, and the inaugural OBAF Cup was won by the Brass Band of Columbus. MD Brian Stevens was quite happy to receive the trophy from OBAF Director Andrew Seymour and will surely hope it is a good omen heading into the North American Championships this weekend.

The three adjudicators Dr. Paul Droste, Mark Sholl and Marc Parulekar chose three different winners in this tightly contested event, but it was Columbus that scored the highest average on the Criteria Based Assessment rubric. All three adjudicators appeared to appreciate the detail of the Steven Mead's rubric.

OBAF Composition Contest
On Friday night, six fantastic new compositions were read through by the repertoire band who later voted for the best by secret ballot. The winner was MJ Shaw's "A Little Minor Turmoil." Matthew is currently bass trombone with Bollington Brass Band and musical director for Dr Jazz & The Cheshire Cats. Upon hearing the news he exclaimed "I can honestly not convey how pleased I am to know I have won the contest, many many thanks!"

OBAF Youth Solo Contest
The festival also saw the new advent of a youth solo contest. Central Ohio Brass Band trombonist James Seymour won the new contest with a stunning rendition of Concertino (David). Fellow sophomore Sarah Zonders dazzled the audience with her french horning playing on Malcolm Arnold's Fantasy for Horn. We are sure to hear more from these two in coming years.

OBAF Cup Winner
Brass Band of Columbus

OBAF Youth Solo Competition
First Place — James Seymour (Central Ohio)
Runner-Up — Sarah Zonders (Dublin Silver)

OBAF Composition Contest
MJ Shaw — "A Little Minor Turmoil"