Report & Results: 2014 North of England Regional Championships

Record 34th triumph for Reg Vardy as section titles go to York Railway Institute, Lockwood Brass, East Riding of Yorkshire and North Skelton.

A delighted Reg Vardy Band was declared North of England champion for a record 34th time, to return to the winner’s enclosure in Darlington on the weekend for the first time since 2011.

Classy

In a contest that found 'St Magnus' to be a difficult ask, their classy performance under Russell Gray edged out rivals East Yorkshire Motor Services, who rounded off a keenly fought battle for the title under Alan Morrison with a bold rendition that saw them claim the second qualification berth after a three year absence from the Albert Hall.

Deserved break

Reg Vardy's MD Russell Gray was already on his way to join wife Mareika and son Angus for a well deserved family break when the results were announced at the Dolphin Centre, but he took time out to speak to 4BR on Monday.

“Without a doubt ‘St Magnus’ is very difficult, but the band played it so well on Sunday,” he said. “I owe huge thanks to MD John Roberts for the way he'd prepared the band before I came in. The ground work was essential and gave the players so much confidence to build on.”

Confident and well directed

That was something that adjudicator David Hirst certainly pinpointed in his remarks, calling the winners, ‘confident and very well directed’, whilst stating that the overall quality ‘stood out’ on the day — something shown by a cache of individual awards Reg Vardy players also picked up.

Russell paid tribute to his trio of prize winning soloists and percussion section whilst also highlighting the great team spirit and work ethic that has built up since he came to the band for the English National last year.

“There has been a lot of hard work and solid progress made by the whole band set up since I became involved, and that was shown during our performance at the weekend. A great deal of credit goes to everyone for that.”

Next priority

Reg Vardy's next priority will be to make a quick return to the British Open via the Grand Shield, although it's a contest Russell will have to follow on 4BR as he will be conducting the European Youth Band in Perth at the time.

“That’s a great honour for me, but I will be having a few well timed breaks in rehearsal to catch up on the action on 4BR. On this form I know that the band will be very confident of doing well.”

Credentials

With EYMS once again showing their impressive top flight credentials under Alan Morrison with a level of contest stage confidence that should also bode well for their Grand Shield appearance, the North of England will send their strongest looking brace of representatives to Kensington for many years.

There was also a keenly fought battle to again the final podium place, with a well judged interpretation from Stephen Malcolm seeing Felling finish ahead of a slightly misfiring defending champion NASUWT Riverside, Fishburn and Shepherd Group.

Although Riverside will have been disappointed not to return to the Albert Hall once again, there was certainly a display of tuba triumph to enjoy as their representative claimed the prize for the ‘Best Basses’.

First Section:

York Railway Institute will make a remarkable fifth consecutive appearance at the National Finals, after their excellent performance claimed the First Section title under the baton of Chris Hirst.

In his detailed assessment, adjudicator Kevin Wadsworth told the audience that although ‘Cry of the Mountain’ was, ‘at face value, not the most difficult piece in the world’, there were still bands that perhaps under estimated its challenge — especially the atmospheric opening section.

Set standard

Joining York Railway on the trip to Cheltenham will be Kirbymoorside Town conducted by John Woodward, after their engaging mountain climb from the number two draw set the standard for six band field to conquer.

They nearly held the lead until the summit before York finally pipped them with a well structured account as the last band of the day, which meant their MD had to make a speedy return into the hall to hear Kevin Wadsworth state that the winning band ‘...had mastered everything he was looking for’ on Howard Lorriman's work.

Dentist’s chair

Having endured a spell in the dentist's chair on Monday, Chris Hirst was still able to smile as he spoke of his pride at his band’s remarkable Area record.

“We lost a number of players after Cheltenham last year and it’s been a rebuilding process,” he said.

“However, to return once again makes me so proud of the hard work and the way the band delivered on stage.”

Pride

That pride was neatly shown for him by the winning contest debut of his 11 year old son George, whilst stalwart bass trombone, Clive Marshall, took to the stage aged 80.

Chris also agreed with the adjudicator that the piece was perhaps deceptively difficult.

“Kevin was quite right in his assessment. At first glance, it doesn't look too hard, but the further I delved into it, the more I found and we had to work hard to deliver a quality performance that would resonate in the box.”

Victory means the prospect of Championship Section status next year, but for now, Chris said his band will relish yet another opportunity to represent the North of England at the finals.

In a contest of varied quality it was a confident GT Group Peterlee who just missed out in third with the remaining top six places going to South Milford, Cockerton and Ashington Colliery.

Second Section:

Lockwood Brass certainly turned Michael Ball's 'Chaucer's Tunes' in celebratory ones in the bar of the Dolphin Centre after they claimed the Second Section title with a commanding victory under the baton of John Roberts.

Joining them at Cheltenham for a fourth consecutive year will be Ripon City, after Malcolm Dibb's confident band just edged out NASUWT Concert in third. The remaining top six places went to Durham Miner’s Association, Murton Colliery and Billingham Silver.

19 players

Remarkably, Lockwood’s authoritative winning account came courtesy of just 19 brass players, as the MD used all his years of experience and nous to expertly manage his resources without losing the essential balance, texture and character of the set work.

Euphonium and soprano players, David Shawcross and Gareth Poole took the individual awards on offer for their contribution to the band’s success.

Pinching

John was still pinching himself when 4BR caught up with him on Monday, especially after leading the band to victory on its first UK contest appearance since 2011.

“I'm chuffed to bits to tell the truth because they have been through some tough times of late,” he said.

“Having qualified four times between 2004 and 2007, I felt it was time they returned to the Area contest and tried again. Now all their hard work has paid off.”

Successful

It proved to be a highly successful weekend for the respected MD, with his residency preparation for Reg Vardy helping them to the Area title, although he was equally pleased that he had also persuaded his brother David and great friend Duncan Beckley to dust off their cornet and tuba to join his band ranks.

“I hope they didn’t mind — especially as I told them I was struggling for players! It took some persuading to get David to pick up the cornet again, but Duncan jumped at the chance. Saturday was a real team effort and my thanks also go to Tim Oldroyd at Geneva Instruments who also played and sorted out our contest day black shirts”.

Future

As for the future, John said building the band up to full strength was still the long term aim, whilst he hopes Lockwood can also return to the French Open in June.

In a contest that showed that despite the elegance of Michael Ball’s set work, it still had the capacity to inflict ugly damage on contest winning hopes, David Hirst highlighted that it was ‘good ensemble playing’ and ‘quality soloists’ that was the key to success — something he said Lockwood in particular ‘had plenty of’.

Third Section:

The opening salvos of the weekend came in the Third Section, with Philip Wilby's ‘Partita for Band' (Postcards from Home).

In the presence of the composer, it was East Riding of Yorkshire under Ian Stott who claimed the Area title, to pip fellow qualifier’s Ellington Colliery conducted by Jonathan Fenwick.

Relax and enjoy

Adjudicator Kevin Wadsworth had earlier told band delegates to tell their bands to ‘relax and enjoy’ the wonderful set work if they were to get to Cheltenham, and the Yorkshireman certainly lived up to his respected reputation for telling it straight at the results too.

In a detailed appraisal, Kevin praised the Kapitol Music Panel for its choice before forensically shedding light on just how and why the contest was won and lost.

Research

He did wonder if some MD's had done research into 1950s life with the ‘lack of musical shape’ on show in the first movement, whilst he commended those who found the right ‘free flowing’ style of 'Lord of the Dance'.

The benefits of ‘good quality hymn tune playing’ were highlighted in the ‘Pastorale’ he said, whilst the ability to ‘maintain control’ sorted out the best from the rest in the finale.

With this in mind, he ‘had no doubts about the top three bands’, so it was perhaps understandable East Riding's conductor, Ian Scott was delighted that his band will be returning to Cheltenham once again, with Kevin praising their rendition as being, 'very secure and safe — well done!'.

Good challenge

Just missing out was Houghton Brass, with the remaining top six places going to Marske Brass, Ferryhill Town and Trimdon Concert.

The winning MD was still delighted at his band’s fine achievement when he spoke to 4BR: “I thought the piece was a very good challenge,” Ian said.

“We put in a great deal of work in recent weeks as I knew there was something in every bar of the score that would test us.”

Victory certainly meant celebrations went on long into Saturday night, but Ian also put victory in a more personal perspective as he dedicated the success to the former chairman Mel Lowe who passed away just before Christmas.

Fourth Section:

The Fourth Section saw ten bands compete in a very enjoyable contest on Alan Fernie's 'Three Spanish Impressions'.

For judge, David Hirst, North Skelton's neatly controlled reading under the baton of the experienced Dennis Noble saw them head to the finals for the first time since 2009, where they will be joined by Swinton & District Excelsior conducted by Robin Rutter.

State of shock

Their players were in something of a state of shock when their names was announced off the stage – an emotion that could also easily describe North Skelton Secretary Josie Coupland, after she told 4BR that just two years ago North Skelton was down to just 10 active playing members.

“I'm still gob-smacked by it all to be honest,” she said. “Along with a number of bands we've been through some tough times of late and that has meant having to move from our base in North Skelton as our bandroom was falling down”.

Drive

However that move, coupled with a highly successful recruitment drive has paid huge dividends — with new practice facilities, a wide range of player experience (the oldest aged 80 in May) and an inspirational conductor.

Josie added: “It's fantastic, not just for people like 80 year old Les Thomson, but everybody associate with the band. We are so grateful to Dennis Noble who took us at a concert at short notice and has stayed with us ever since. He is a remarkable man and a great musician.”

Improve

In a contest that showed that the entry level of banding in the region is starting to improve slowly but surely, Bearpark & Esh Colliery just missed out on a trip to Cheltenham in third, whilst the reaming to six places went to Barton Community, Burneside Brass and Jayess Newbiggin.

Weekend success

The Area weekend also proved to be a success for the new Regional Secretary, Tony Griffith, who also managed to put his administrative duties to one side on Sunday morning to conduct Jayess Newbiggin in the Fourth Section.

Reflecting on his first contest, Tony was delighted with the way things had gone and thanked his hard working team for their support, not just for this contest but throughout the first few months of his tenure.

The event concluded with presentations to three long-standing stalwarts of the contest, including the new National President Alan Hope, who was in attendance and enjoyed his weekend of stress free listening immensely.

Malcolm Wood

There has been a lot of hard work and solid progress made by the whole band set up since I became involved, and that was shown during our performance at the weekendRussell Gray

Results:

As it happened:
www.4barsrest.com/live/2014regionalchampionships/

Championship Section:
Test Piece: 'St Magnus' — Kenneth Downie

Adjudicator: David Hirst

1. Reg Vardy (Russell Gray)*
2. East Yorkshire Motor Services (Alan Morrison)*
3. Felling (Stephen Malcolm)
4. NASUWT Riverside (Ray Farr)
5. Fishburn (Allan Ramsay)
6. Shepherd Group (Richard Wilton)
7. Easington Colliery (Phil Rosier)
8. Harrogate (Craig Ratcliffe)

Soprano: Reg Vardy
Cornet: Reg Vardy
Euphonium: Reg Vardy
Trombone: EYMS
Bass Section: NASUWT Riverside
Percussion Section: Reg Vardy