Whitburn successfully defend Scottish champion band title

The heavyweights of Scottish banding brought a weekend of fantastic music making to a close in Perth with some outstanding performances of Philip Wilby’s Red Priest in the Championship Section.

Ten bands competed for the ultimate title – and the Hannaford Jubilee Trophy – in a true spirit of friendly rivalry for the keen ears of adjudicators John Ward and Sandy Smith.

It was Whitburn Band (below) who successfully defended their Scottish champion title under the musical direction of Prof Nicholas Childs on a score of 194 points. In second place was the cooperation band, conducted by Mike Fowles, on 192 points and taking the third spot was Dalmellington Band, directed by Erik Janssen, with 191 points.

John Ward described the test piece as a “terrific challenge” which the bands will be the better for having tackled it in the weeks to come. He did say, however, that some of the context of accents was lost by some of the contenders.

Sandy Smith’s comments focused on the importance of playing the dynamics in the music correctly and consistently.

The winning band will receive an invitation to represent Scotland at the 2024 European Championships in Palanga, Lithuania, and the first and second placed bands qualify for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall on 21 October. Also, the top six bands will be invited to compete in the Scottish Open on 25 November.

The following individual prizes were awarded:

The Terris Medal for the best cornet: principal cornet Chris Bradley of Whitburn

The Gavin Lindsay Quaich for the best soprano: Katie Ankers of Dalmellington

The Bram Thompson Medal for the best horn: solo horn Andrew McMillan of Whitburn

The Alex Chalmers Memorial Quaich for best flugel: Stephanie Kennedy of the cooperation band

The James MacMillan Medal for the best baritone: Carole Ednie, solo baritone of the cooperation band

The Curly Wilson Memorial Trophy for best euphonium: Chris Shanks, solo euphonium of Whitburn

The John Campbell Award for the best trombone: Paul Kiernan, solo trombone of Whitburn

The Angus Pearse Memorial Trophy for the best bass: Graham Fraser, Eb bass of Whitburn

The James Hillis Memorial Trophy for the best bass section: Whitburn

The Hugh Johnstone Memorial Trophy for the best percussion section: Whitburn.

The full results of the Championship Section are as follows:

1. Whitburn (Prof Nicholas Childs) 194 pts

2. the cooperation band (Mike Fowles) 192 pts

3. Dalmellington (Erik Janssen) 191 pts
4. Dalkieth & Monktonhall (James Chamberlain) 189 pts
5. Kirkintilloch Kelvin (Thomas Wyss) 188 pts
6. Kingdom Brass (Corsin Tuor) 187 pts
7. Bon-Accord Silver (Adam Cook) 186 pts
8. Unison Kinneil (Raymond Tennant) 185 pts
9. Bo’ness & Carridenl (Gary Cutt) 183 pts

10. Johnstone (Colin McKenzie) 182 pts