Scottish Co-op Advance to WLC Final
The first semi-final of the 2006 West Lothian Challenge took place at the weekend (4th June) in the Howden Park Centre, Livingston. This contest is a little different from traditional contests in that it is a knockout event with two semi-finals and a final being played over three Sunday evenings in June. Each band is required to provide a half hour programme of music and is usually asked to include an overture, a solo item and an item featuring a section of the band. This year, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of his birth, the bands were also asked to include an arrangement of a piece of music by Mozart. The adjudicators for tonights semi were Tony Swainson, Alan Fernie (overtures and soloists), and Margaret Hardy (entertainment value).
Three of the top six bands in Scotland took part in this first semi-final with defending Champions Newtongrange Silver, under conductor Charles Keenan, kicking things off with the march ?The Waltonian?. Their chosen overture was the J.A. Greenwood arrangement of Franz von Suppe?s ?Light Cavalry?. In the first of two solo items the band featured principal euphonium Neil Philip with the Alan Fernie arrangement of ?Misty? ? a brave choice given that Alan himself was adjudicating the soloists. Taking the tempo upbeat again the band featured several of the ?individualists? with Peter Grahams ?Cossack Fire Dance? from ?Call of the Cossacks?. In their second solo item, flugel player John Philip impressed with his performance of ?I Got You Under My Skin? arranged by Mark Freeh. For their Mozart arrangement the band chose ?Ave Verum Corpus? arranged by A.H. Jakeway. The band then finished off their programme with Sandy Smiths wonderful arrangement of ?Barbarian Horde? from the movie ?Gladiator?.
Last years runners-up Unison Kinneil took the stage next directed by their conductor Paul Drury, who was also responsible for several of the fine arrangements they included in their programme. They opened with Andrew Duncans arrangement of ?Taris Bulba? and from that moved swiftly into the Ray Farr arrangement of ?Softly Softly?. Their next item featured a quartet of players in a Paul Drury arrangement of Mozarts ?Ave Verum Corpus?. Their featured soloist was flugel player Trevor Gray who chose the Alan Morrison arrangement of ?Georgia on my Mind?. Two more Paul Drury arrangements followed with the lovely ?Journey Home? and the upbeat ?Save the Last Dance For Me?, which got a few feet tapping in the audience. The band finished with music from the Salvation Army with the Lorne Barry composition ?Credo?.
The last band up were the current Scottish Champions, Scottish Co-op conducted tonight by Allan Ramsay. Much was expected from the band in this their first ever appearance at the contest, and they did not disappoint. They opened with the rousing march ?Keighley Moor? arranged by Joe Cook and followed this up with Gordon Langfords ?Rhapsody For Trombone And Band? featuring trombonist Paul Keirnan. For their next item the band chose to feature a quartet playing the quite beautiful Howard Snell arrangement of ?Sweet and Low?. The band chose to feature a Mozart arrangement as their overture and introduced a premiere of ?The Abduction From The Seraglio? fro the pen of Scottish arranger Tom Donaldson, who was seated in the audience. In their next item the band showed their humorous side with some great improvisation, and acting from Mr Ramsay, in the Bryan Allen arrangement of ?My Sister Kate?. The bands second soloist of the evening, principal euphonium Alison Bonnar, showed why she is regarded as one of the best in the country with a quite beautiful performance of the ?Benedictus From The Armed Man?. The band finished with the finale from ?Glorifico Aeternum? by Dean Jones, a fitting end to an at times quite moving programme.
As the results were announced it came as no surprise when adjudicator Tony Swainson announced that Scottish Co-op had qualified for the final. The band also won the prize for the most entertaining programme of the evening. The Unison Kinneil band finished in second place closely followed by Newtongrange Silver in third.
The results of the West Lothian Challenge 2006
Semi-Final 1
| Venue: | Howden Park Centre, Livingston |
| Date: | 4th June 2006 |
| Adjudicator(s): | Tony Swainson |
| Entertainment Programme | |
Band |
Conductor |
Draw |
Pts |
|
| 1. | Scottish Co-op | Allan Ramsay |
3
|
195
|
| 2. | Unison Kinneil | Paul Drury |
2
|
190
|
| 3. | Newtongrange Silver | Charles Keenan |
1
|
189
|
Next weeks semi-final sees three times Champions Whitburn up against senior trophy winners Kingdom Brass and current Scottish first section Champions Dalmellington. If tonights event is anything to go by then we should be in for a further treat when these three bands go head to head on the 11th June.
