The Brighton & Hove City Band are celebrating after clinching their place at the National Finals in Harrogate last weekend at Stevange.

Praise

Musical Director Matthew Hackett, who has been at the helm for just 23 months, had nothing but praise and admiration for the band. "Qualification to the National Brass Band Finals in Harrogate has excited every member of the band; it’s a brilliant achievement. I cannot fault the performance on the day and am so proud, they were superb on stage."

The band last qualified for the National Finals in 1998 and 2003, and Matthew is determined to break the 5 year gap between qualifications and hopes to continue to drive the band on to future success.

We are constantly striving to improve our standards of performance and this result has given us a massive boostMD, Matthew Hackett

Improve

Matthew stated: "We are constantly striving to improve our standards of performance and this result has given us a massive boost. We realise the hard work will start soon in preparing for the Finals in September but I fully expect the band to rise to the occasion and put on an equally good show."