The reigning Scottish Champions Whitburn reached the final of the West Lothian Challenge contest with victory over Kingdom Brass and Newtongrange Silver in the second semi-final.
All three bands were on good form in this semi-final. Craig Anderson and Kingdom Brass took the stage first and opened their programme with "Valero" followed by the new piece "When Kingdom Comes". The bands solosit was the reigning Scottish Solo Champion Jim Smith playing "Carnival of Venice". The band then played Kenneth Downie's "In Perfect Peace" before once again upping the tempo with "Crazy brass Machine". The Stevie Wonder song "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" featured the bands cornet and trombone sections and the band followed this up with some wonderful playing in "The Mask of Zorro". The band finished their programme with a selection from Tchaikovsky's "The Little Russian".
Newtongrange were next up, conducted by Alex Knox, and they opened with "Hava Nagilah" arranged by the bands principal trombonist Alan Fernie. Newtongrange also chose to feature Kenneth Downie's "In Perfect Peace" before showcasing the talents of their principal euphonium Iain Davey with his solo choice "Napoli". The band then featured their cornet section with the frantic Romanian dance "Hora Staccato". The bands new music choice, "A Scots Miscellany", also came from the pen of Alan Fernie who was asked to introduce the number and explain his thoughts behind the music. The band finished their programme with a rousing performance of "Festive Overture".
Whitburn took the stage last under the baton of Andrew Duncan, a combination which has had some success here in the past. The band went straight into the opening number "Silverado" from the film of the same name. The band then featured their twice Scottish Sol champion tuba player Graham Fraser with Rodney Newtons "Capriccio for Tuba". In a break from tonights norm the band then featured Kenneth Downies "Romance" from the test piece "Three Part Invention". Andrew Duncan seems to like the music of Shostakovich as he regularly features some of his work in his programmes. Tonight was no exception and the chosen piece was the march from "Jazz Suite". The band then featured their flugelhorn player Jim Chamberlain and principal trombonist Alex Philip in a wonderful little arrangement of "Against All Odds". Andrew Duncan featured one of his own new compositions with "Welsh Echoes" before finishing the programme with a flourish with "It Don't Mean A Thing".
The final will take place in two weeks time, 22nd June, where Whitburn will take the stage first, followed by Scottish Co-op.
| Venue: | Regal Theatre, Bathgate |
| Date: | 8th June 2008 |
| Adjudicator(s): | Peter Roberts |
| Entertainment Programme | |
Band |
Conductor |
Draw |
Pts |
|
| 1. | Whitburn | Andrew Duncan | 3 |
195 |
| 2. | Kingdom Brass | Craig Anderson | 1 |
190 |
| 3 | Newtongrange Silver | Alex Knox | 2 |
189 |
Most Entertaining Band - Whitburn