13 young players from the Midsomer Norton Brass Academy, accompanied by their parents and conductor Jo Sykes, recently travelled to Launceston to take part in their popular Annual Solo & Quartet Contest.

Second time

This is only the second time the youngsters had attended a contest, with a trio of them making their debut appearances.

The day was a tremendous success, with the players not only entering as soloists, but also some of them getting together to play as duet, quartet and ensemble group.

Excellent performances

7 year old Aidan Johnson, put in an excellent performance in the 9 and under section, playing ‘When the Saints’ to claim a brilliant victory, with Lizzie Perryman, aged 7, also playing superbly on ‘Volga Boatmen’ to come third.

Emily Bradley, Aidan Johnson, Luke Johnson and Sam Stone teamed up to form the ‘4 Sale Brass Quartet’ to play a great account of ‘Bob the Builder’, whilst Henry Wareham, Lizzie Perryman, Ben Roberts and Leo Kitley teamed up to form the ‘Midsomer Fourtunes Quartet’ to perform a thrilling ‘Batman’.

The groups eventually claimed well deserved podium finishes — a remarkable effort as they only starting playing in January this year.

Prizes

Tom Williams, Finlay Bradley and Tabby Johnson were also rewarded for their excellent playing on the day too, with Tom winning the slow melody and Air Varie class.

Finlay Bradley and Tabby Johnson both put in strong performances in their solo classes with Tabby coming away with 2nd place in the slow melody 10-12 age group. Tabby and Finlay then paired up to enter the duet section and after another excellent rendition away with a 2nd place.

Finally a group from the Brass Academy joined together and won the Ensemble Section.

It was a fantastic day for all involved — and there were some very proud parents at the end of it, especially as the youngsters are all so keen and want to join them in the senior Midsomer BandJo Sykes

Fantastic day

A very proud Jo Sykes told 4BR: "It was a fantastic day for all involved — and there were some very proud parents at the end of it, especially as the youngsters are all so keen and want to join them in the senior Midsomer Band."

Thanks

One of the parents also made sure Jo got a mention too.

"Special thanks must go to Jo for all the work she has put into preparing the players of the Brass Academy for the contest. This has meant lots of extra rehearsals, a lot of administration behind the scenes preparing the music and I suspect a lot of sleepless nights."