The Yorkshire Regional Committee and 4BR has announced that the green light has been shown for the go ahead for the innovative Children’s Adjudication Panel, and that four budding judges will test their skills on Saturday at Bradford.

Quartet

The quartet of Jonathan Bates aged 12 from the Skelmanthorpe B Band, Harrison Healy, aged 14 from Oldham (Lees) Band, Nicholas Birch aged 15 who plays with United Co-op Crewe and Hayley Edmond aged 15 from the Whitburn Band, will be passing judgement on the bands in the Third Section on Saturday afternoon on Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s test piece ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’.

It’s so important we interest young people in the brass band movement... It’s meant to be fun as well as educational too and you never know – in 20 years time these youngsters mat well be judging the championship section!Peggy Tomlinson

33 applicants

The four were picked out of a hat after 4BR received 33 applicants for the role.

Exclusive insight

They youngsters will meet, with their parents, on Saturday lunchtime at St George’s Hall where they will be given exclusive insight into the test piece by adjudicator Dr Robert Childs, euphonium star Mark Bousie and the composer himself, Paul Lovatt-Cooper.

Decisions

Then the group will sit, listen and make their adjudication notes sitting up with the press contingent on the first tier of the hall – in the open too! Their deliberations will be printed on 4BR and their individual and collective decisions revealed.

Delighted

4BR Director Anthony Banwell is hopeful the idea will catch on in other areas and contests too. "We’ve been delighted with the response and must thank Peggy Tomlinson and her team for all the help and assistance in making this happen. Thanks also go to the judges, composer and Mark Bousie too. We hope everyone enjoys the experience and that other contests try something similar in the future too."

Important

Meanwhile Peggy Tomlinson is looking forward to a possible new generation of judges. "It’s so important we interest young people in the brass band movement, and we hope this does just that. It’s meant to be fun as well as educational too and you never know – in 20 years time these youngsters mat well be judging the championship section!"