The striking success of the UniBrass Championships led this year to the hosting of the first UniBrass Shield event — a secondary tier of competitive involvement for less established student ensembles.

Not that the Shield itself was anything less substantial to win than that on offer in the Trophy contest — a Daliesque lump of wood and glass topped off with a treble clef and mortar board that will now find for itself a welcome home in the student bar at Durham University. (above)

Spread

Led by the irrepressible Abi Groocock, they pipped rivals University of Sheffield and Keele University in a highly enjoyable contest that certainly showed that the geographical spread of high quality banding talent is not simply confined to the more well-known seats of musical learning.

Durham featured the fun 'Punchinellie' which juxtaposed nicely with Eric Whitacre's 'Sleep' to follow, before launching into 'Fly Me to the Moon', 'Nightmare' from 'Cry of the Celts' and the finale of 'Morning' by Matthew Ruddock — a programme that offered contrast, stylistic nuance, precise ensemble work and classy solo leads.

Little wonder their supporters wore the type of smiles that are normally seen on graduation day itself as their set came to a super close.

Proud

Diane Cooper, mother of cornet player Daniel, who along with her husband and Dan's grandparents, was certainly one of them.

"They've held their own: It was really consistent, even when some bands went for more of an entertainment programme', she told 4BR before the results had been announced. "What a great day — everyone should be proud of themselves."

Deserved award

And one such person was conductor Abi Groocock, as she told 4BR: "I am immensely proud of the progress Durham University Brass Band has made this year, moving up the table from coming almost bottom to winning the Shield, and I think every player thoroughly deserves this award!

We went on stage with the motto 'focused and fabulous' and we certainly did this. As much as we never dared dream we would win, we are overjoyed that we did and look forward to coming back next year."

Deciding factors

Adjudicator Leigh Baker (who was joined by Mark Wilkinson) later commented that some of the deciding factors on the day were that some bands had taken more notice of the acoustic of the hall, and had also taken extra care over the musical contrasts in their sets.

"The hall roof was low so we had an excellent acoustic which allowed us to hear everything. You've get to learn to play the quiet pieces as well as the loud, funky stuff and be innovative in your programme choices,"he said.

"That was the key today; so although we awarded prizes according to entertainment, it was the consistency of what was played that saw us separate the top places."

Narrow battle

It also meant that it gave Durham a narrow, but clear two-point margin of victory, whilst the battle for second and third place was eventually decided on the tie-break rule that saw Sheffield gain a higher mark for music than rivals Keele.

Sheffield certainly showcased their quality with a fine 'Best March' performance of the classic 'Mephistopheles' — despite composer Shipley Douglas becoming 'Shirley' Douglas for the day. However, there was no doubting the testosterone fueled excellence of Michael Thackray who gave a thunderous rendition of 'Live and Let Die', whilst the trio of film scores from 'Star Wars', 'Jurassic Park' and 'Eve of War' rounded off a sparkling set.

Let it rain

Crucially it enabled them to snatch the runner-up spot from Keele, whose own 'Rain' inspired programme was cleverly put together by MD Alistair Gibson and his players.

'Singin' In the Rain', 'Thunder and Lightning Polka', Leigh Baker's own arrangement of 'Little April Shower' and the super finale 'The Tempest' by Kade Purbrick made for the only welcome downpour on the day.

Accolades

The supporters of debutants Nottingham-Trent University were certainly pleased as they were announced in fourth, thanks to a set that featured their 'Best Percussion' section, especially in the fantastic staging of 'Sing, Sing' Sing', whilst University of Oxford will have travelled home with a spring in their step after coming fifth — with MD Myrddin Rees Davies taking the 'Best Student Conductor' accolade.

It said a great deal about the closeness of the contest as eighth placed Lancaster University ended up just four points behind Nottingham-Trent, with the University of Leeds eventually claiming the last top-six slot with a rather unconventional set that included just two items — although the tour-de-force performance of tuba soloist James Hobbis of 'Fnugg Blue' deservedly took the 'Best Soloist' award.

Holidays

Seventh placed University of York certainly had numbers on their side as they packed onto the stage, whilst both debutants University of Chichester and University of Cambridge certainly enjoyed their contest experiences — the latter with a witty eye already on the student holiday break.

As for the winners Durham University?

A much shorter break may be allowed by their tutors for sore heads to fully recover before they return to their studies.

Steve Jack

We went on stage with the motto 'focused and fabulous' and we certainly did this. As much as we never dared dream we would win, we are overjoyed that we did and look forward to coming back next yearDurham University MD, Abi Groocock

UniBrass Shield:

Adjudicators: Leigh Baker and Mark Wilkinson

1. Durham University (Abi Groocock) — 127
2. University of Sheffield (Lee Dunkley) — 125*
3. Keele University (Alistair Gibson) — 125*
4. Nottingham-Trent University (Peter Lacey) — 119
5. University of Oxford (Myrddin Rees Davies) — 118
6. University of Leeds (Lewis Hammond) — 117
7. University of York (Gordon Eddison) — 116
8. Lancaster University (Robert Richardson) — 115
9. University of Chichester (Emma Button) — 108
10. University of Cambridge (Robert Turnbull) — 104**

Best Soloist: James Hobbis (tuba) — Leeds University
Best Percussion: Nottingham-Trent University
Best Performance of a March: Mephistopheles (University of Sheffield)
Best Student Conductor: Myrddin Rees Davies (University of Oxford)

*Music Category takes precedence in event of tied points
**One point time penalty

Full results published when we get them