Tredegar Band has won the 2016 Band Cymru title, after producing a highly-polished entertainment programme under the direction of MD, Ian Porthouse in Treorchy at the weekend.
They beat off the challenge of finalists, City of Cardiff (Melingriffith), the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Brass Band and Brass Beaumaris in a two-hour programme broadcast live on the S4C channel on Sunday evening to claim the £10,000 first prize.
Complex
Each had progressed to the Parc & Dare Theatre after a rather complex semi-final stage in Aberystwyth, as the best four ensembles chosen by the judges; jazz legend John Faddis, former Coldstream Guards Director of Music Graham O Jones MBE and professional trombonist Colin Sheen — although only two were programme winners in four televised broadcasts.
However, each band was told of their qualification success by a surprise visit to their rehearsals by the presenter Alex Humphreys and a camera crew.
12 minute sets
The final though was much more straightforward affair, with each band providing a 12-minute set for the judges to compare and contrast against each other.
Playing first, Tredegar opened with a sparkling new arrangement by their tuba player Ceri John, of 'Gypsy Dance' by Dargomyzhsky, followed by Simon Dobson's 'Little Hymn', Billy May's 'Brassman's Holiday' and 'Glorifco Aeternum' by Dean Jones to close.
The unofficial panel of judges of Geraint Cynan and Branwen Gwynn called it 'a multi layered performance' and 'all that was good about brass banding', as they made their opinions known to the audience at home, whilst Ian Porthouse showed his pleasure in his post-performance interview, stating he was 'really delighted' by how the Welsh Regional Champion had played.
Great advert
However, there was still a trio of well put together programmes to follow, with Graham O Jones telling the audience before the result that the final had produced, 'four incredible performances' that were 'a great advert for community band music in Wales'.
That was certainly shown in each of the diverse sets, with the students of the Royal Welsh College under Dr Robert Childs showing off their skills just a day after many had just given their end of term recitals.
Their set of 'Enter the Galaxies', 'Ave Verum', the euphonium duet, 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' and 'Sospan Fach' certainly provided a showcase for the talent being nurtured especially through the brass band course in Cardiff, with Bob saying that he was 'truly proud' of his player's efforts.
Eclectic
Meanwhile, one of the strong elements of the competition has been the eclectic composition of some of the ensembles on show, and that was certainly evident with Brass Beaumaris directed by Gwyn Evans — featuring a mixture of traditional brass band instrumentation with trumpets, electric and acoustic guitars and even a penny whistle.
Their set included Robin Dewhurst's 'Earth Rites' and 'Elis Island Lament', as well as the MD joining forces for a fizzing flugel duet rendition of 'Children of Sanchez'.
Magical
The final band was City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) under Nigel Seaman, who 'had to go through' according to the judges after a victorious semi-final appearance which included the 'Best Soloist' award winning performance of Lowenna Taylor.
Her rendition of 'Wish upon a Star' on horn was described as 'magical' by Colin Sheen, whilst John Faddis said that it was 'so beautiful...it brought tears to my eyes', as she won the £500 prize.
Before the final announcement of the results Lowenna gave a wonderful reprise live on stage — just ten minutes after the band had played 'O.B.1 Fanfare' by Tom Watson, followed by 'Somewhere out There' (featuring Lowenna once more), 'Brasilia Scaramouche' and 'Phoenix' from Peter Graham's 'War of the Worlds'.
They told me that we certainly did that for them today and that it was a performance that showed what they said were world-class brass band qualities off to the fullIan Porthouse
Ticker tape
It was left to Graham O Jones MBE to announce the winners (in his equally well rehearsed best Welsh) with the golden ticker-tape falling down as Ian Porthouse accepted the congratulations of the judges on Tredegar being declared 2016 champion.
Ian later told 4BR: "That was strangely nerve-wracking. It's been a contest where I don't think anyone has been totally sure what the judges have been looking for, so we had to take on board what they said about our performance in the semi-final and totally change our approach.
They told me that we certainly did that for them today and that it was a performance that showed what they said were world-class brass band qualities off to the full."
Great talent
He added: "Luckily we have plenty of great talent in the band — with Ceri John's arrangement of the 'Gypsy Dance' an absolute gem. That gave us a new platform to build on — and with the band playing with such confidence I was delighted whatever the result was. Thankfully though, it worked out perfectly."
Watch:
You can watch the final by following the link:
http://www.s4c.cymru/clic/c_level2.shtml?programme_id=533340801
