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Judges amazed by standard

The judges who delberated over the Senior Solo Final to find the British Open Solo Champion for 2008 were amazed by the overall standard.

tameside council
 

Major Peter Parkes and David Read, the two men who deliberated over the Senior Solo Final to find the British Open Solo Champion for 2008 on Sunday were amazed by the overall standard of playing.

Never heard better

I've been doing this for quite a long time and I can say to you in all sincerity that I've never heard a group of soloists as good as theseMajor Peter Parkes

Prior to the announcement of the results, both men spoke about what they had been listening to. Major Peter Parkes said 'I've been doing this for quite a long time and I can say to you in all sincerity that I've never heard a group of soloists as good as these. They're terrific. What I'd like to say to the soloists is someone is going to be first and someone is going to be ninth. The one at the bottom could have won in some of the one's I've been to. Thank you very much, it's been excellent and what a shame, there's not people here to listen to them, they should be here shouldn't they?'.

Best ever

The Major's colleague, David Read concurred with what was said when he also gave his thoughts 'that's the finest playing we've heard in the final ever. You all ought to be congratulated. We've had to place them one-to-nine because that's our task' The judges managed to seperate the players with David saying 'the difference between them was so tiny. The standard was so high. The playing was so assured, so musical and the technique was absolutely fantastic with all of the performances but some were slightly better then others'.

David also praised the pianists who made the performances before adding 'we're all privileged to have heard this final tonight. I can't speak too highly for the performers, everyone of the nine performers was superb. We were amazed, everyone that came on was such a high standard'.

Glen's win

When the results were announced, Glen van Looy, the 17 year old euphonium player from Brass Band Heist took the title from Harmen Vanhoorne in second and Iain Culross in third.

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