Results: Northern Counties Solos and Ensembles

THE cream of North-East Scotland’s young brass players have taken to the stage in Forfar for the Northern Counties Brass Band Association's annual solo and ensemble contest.

As well as vying for the title of Northern Counties champions, participants on Sunday, January 24, will have the opportunity to challenge for the national crown. Successful entrants qualified for the Besson Scottish Solo and Ensemble Championships, to be held in Livingston’s Howden Park Centre on Saturday, February 6.

The Junior Solos (12 and under) section kicked the contest off in fine style, with adjudicator Glenn Munro praising the impressive level of technical ability on show. In the end it was Lucy Crabb’s spirited performance of Roy Newsome’s tenor horn solo The Carousel that took home the silverware. Joining her in qualifying for the national finals will be Christopher Yeaman, whose cornet rendition of Edrich Siebert’s The Lazy Trumpeter’had audience toes tapping on its way to the runner-up position. Thomas Kobine filled the final qualification spot in third place, giving a fine tenor horn account of AH Mountain’s Shepherd of Israel.

The Carnoustie-based quintet of Struan Corrie, Sarah Smart, Abbie Napier, Katie Chapman and Raghnall Simmons took home the Junior Ensemble trophy, following up a movement of Stuart Johnson’s Old Castle Suite with a smile-inducing version of the Postman Pat theme tune, complete with car horn!

If the bar had not already been set high enough by the youngsters, the standard of playing in the upper age groups left adjudicator and audience alike searching for superlatives, not least in the day’s hotly contested Intermediate Solos (16 and under) section, where rising euphonium star Chris Flynn’s stunning performance of Napoli had just enough to pip Jordan Robertson for the title, the talented trombonist narrowly missing out despite impressing on Chris Brubeck’s inventive James Brown in the Twilight Zone. Finlay McGhee’s well-rounded euphonium account of Goedicke’s Concert Etude took the third and final qualification slot.

Further success would follow for Chris and Finlay in the Intermediate Ensembles class, as their Carnoustie quintet (joined by Ethan Doherty, Marcello Rufo and Aiden Robertson) scooped first prize with an arrangement of Frère Jacques, followed by an opportunity to show off their impromptu percussion skills in Leslie Pearson’s Hiplips II. They will be joined in the finals by the Carnoustie quartet of Iona McFarlane, Lucy Mineard, Marcello Rufo and Jordan Robertson who regaled the Forfar crowd with Christopher Norton’s Jazz Quartet.

In the Youth Solos (21 and under) category it was Sarah Knight and her euphonium who took the honours on Carl Hohne’s Slavische Fantasie, closely followed by Rhegan Fraser on tenor horn, playing Peter Kneale’s Variations on a Welsh Theme.

The Open Slow Melody competition offered the perfect counterpoint to the fireworks of the earlier solo classes, bringing the tempo down nicely with nine evocative performances. Jordan Robertson gained some revenge for her earlier runner-up placings by taking the title of champion with a beautifully expressive Londonderry Air, just ahead of Rhegan Fraser’s well-crafted version of Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s An Untold Story, with Chris Flynn in third playing the second movement of Haydn’s well-loved Trumpet Concerto.

It was left to the horn quartet from the Bon Accord Silver ‘B’ Band to round off a great day’s music-making, their arrangement of Loch Lomond providing a suitably Scottish note to the end of proceedings on their way to the Open Ensemble prize.

Adjudicator Glenn Munro was clearly impressed by the overall standard of entry, commenting that he had had a “very enjoyable day listening to some fantastic young musicians”.

Damian Martin, NCBBA president, added: "To see the exceptional playing on display is a testament to the hard work put in by pupils and their teachers, and further proof of how fortunate we are to have some of the country’s finest young brass musicians here on our own doorstep in the North-East of Scotland. Every year the level of playing seems to get higher, and it’s great to be able to send such a strong representation to the national finals.

"We here at the NCBBA wish all of our qualifiers the best of luck in their efforts to claim the Scottish titles in a fortnight’s time.”

The 2016/17 NCBBA Solos and Ensembles contest will be held on Sunday, November 6, with the venue to be advised nearer the date.

Results

Junior Solos (12 and under)

1) Lucy Crabb, The Carousel - Gold

2) Christopher Yeaman, The Lazy Trumpeter - Gold

3) Thomas Kobine, Shepherd of Israel - Gold

Emily McGhee, Après un Rêve - Gold

Molly Crompton, Polly - Silver

Ailish Gracie, The Caledonian - Silver

Junior Ensembles

1) Carnoustie, The Old Castle Suite/Postman Pat - Gold

Intermediate Solos (16 and under)

1) Chris Flynn, Napoli - Gold 

2) Jordan Robertson, James Brown in the Twilight Zone - Gold 

3) Finlay McGhee, Concert Etude (Goedicke) - Gold

Holly Bennett, Facilita - Gold

Ethan Doherty, Jenny Jones - Gold

Iona McFarlane, Grand Russian Fantasia - Gold

Marcello Rufo, Slavische Fantasie - Gold

Nick D'Arcy-Evans, Morceau Symphonique - Silver

Rosie Martin, Mozart Horn Concerto (1st mvt) - Silver

Intermediate Ensembles

1) Carnoustie 'A', Frère Jacques/Hiplips II - Gold 

2) Carnoustie 'B', Jazz Quartet (Christopher Norton) - Silver

Youth Solos (21 and under)

1) Sarah Knight, Slavische Fantasie - Gold

2) Rhegan Fraser, Variations on a Welsh Theme - Silver

Open Slow Melody

1) Jordan Robertson, Londonderry Air -  95

2) Rhegan Fraser, An Untold Story - 94

3) Chris Flynn, Haydn Trumpet Concerto (2nd mvt) - 93

4=) Elizabeth Ogilvie, Demelza - 92

4=) Finlay McGhee, Donegal Bay - 92

6) Heather Hughes, A Time For Peace - 91

7) Nick D'Arcy-Evans, Romance (Saint-Saens) - 89

8) Lucy Crabb, Demelza - 86

9) Karen Stewart, Feelings - 84

Open Ensembles

1) Bon Accord 'B' Band, Loch Lomond - 90