Anne is British Open contest history woman

Congratulations to Scottish musical director Anne Crookston on making British Open Brass Band Championships history as the first woman to adjudicate at the prestigious competition.

Newtongrange Silver Band took the opportunity at a recent concert at the National Mining Museum to congratulate its MD Anne following her invitation to serve as the first-ever female adjudicator in the British Open contest’s 170-year history on Saturday 7 September.

The British Open Brass Band Championships, established in 1853, is one of the most prestigious and long-running brass band contests in the world. Anne’s invitation represents a historic step forward in recognising the invaluable contributions of women in the brass band world.

Anne was born in Glasgow and has enjoyed a wide-ranging musical career, having been involved in choirs, brass bands, orchestras and wind bands. Her earliest musical training was on tenor horn, moving to baritone aged 14.

At the same time, Anne started playing oboe, later going on to study the instrument at Glasgow University, where she also conducted the brass ensemble, wind band and orchestra before graduating with a B.Mus. (Hons) degree in Music.

Anne leads a SBBA workshop on adjudication

In her playing career Anne enjoyed success with both CWS (Glasgow) and the Whitburn Band. Before taking up her post as musical director of Newtongrange Silver Band, she conducted Kingdom Brass, Whitburn, West Lothian Schools and Bathgate Band.

As an adjudicator, Anne already has a wealth of experience, having judged at local music festivals and solo and ensemble contests, as well as throughout Europe at contests including the European Youth Championship, Siddis Brass (Norway) and regional and national events in Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.