Record Entry For Brass In The Park
A record 39 bands have entered this year_s Brass in the Park contests which will take place in the tented village at Newtongrange Park on Saturday 5 September.
22 bands have entered the March & Hymn Tune contest for senior bands. The entrants areBathgate, Broxburn & Livingston, Callander Brass, Campbeltown Brass, Dalmellington, Dalmellington Junior, Deveron River Brass, Dundee Instrumental, East Coast Brass, Hawick Saxhorn, Jedforest Instrumental, Langholm Town, MacTaggart Scott Loanhead, Newmilns & Galston, Peebles Burgh, Penicuik Silver, Renfrew Burgh, St David_s Brass, Sanquhar & District, Selkirk Silver, Shotts St Patricks and West Calder.
In addition to the March & Hymn Tune contest, all of the senior bands have been given the option to perform a short programme at a new venue at St David_s, Main Street, Newtongrange and to participate in a separate Marching Deportment Contest. Payments of ú100 are being made to every band performing a programme and a further ú100 is earned by each band which takes part in but fails to win the prize in the Marching Deportment Contest.
Once the prize fund of ú2,450 for the March & Hymn Tune Contest, the prize money of ú250 for the Marching Deportment Contest, the payments for the concert programmes and participation in the marching deportment event and the prizes for the youth band contests are all added together, the day will see a total payout to bands of around ú6,500.
17 bands have entered the Youth Band Contests which will also take place on Saturday 5 September. The entrants in the Development Section are Campbeltown Juniors, Hawick Saxhorn Juniors, Loanhead Brass Roots, Perthshire Youth, Selkirk Youth and St Ronan_s Future Band.
The largest entry in the Youth Contests is in the Novice Section, first introduced at Brass in the Park in 2007 and subsequently added to the format of the Scottish Youth Band Championships in 2008. This section extremely popular section has a terrific entry of 11 bands, Abbey Brass (Jedforest), Coalburn Bronze, Creetown Silver Juniors, Dunfermline Youth Brass, Kingdom Brass Youth, Langholm Town Juniors, Levern Valley Community Brass, Loanhead Brass Rootlets, Newtongrange Juniors, Peebles Juniors and St David_s Budding Brass.
Brass in the Park President, Alan McLaren, commented _We are absolutely delighted to once more have such a terrific entry in the Youth Band Contests. This is yet another indicator of the massive growth in the youth and training band sector in Scotland in recent years and reflects the terrific development work going on at grass roots level in bands the length and breadth of the country. We are very conscious of the fact that, for many of the players in the Novice Section in particular, this will be their first experience of a brass band contest. We shall therefore be doing everything we can to make this an enjoyable and memorable occasion for all concerned._
Also taking part on the Saturday is the Govan Citadel Band of the Salvation Army which will provide this year_s pre-results concert.
Brass in the Park 2009 opens with a Gala Concert on the evening of Friday 4 September featuring Newtongrange Band and guests. The concert will have a Homecoming theme and will feature various of the track_s from the latest CD release by Newtongrange Band, _Homecoming Brass_.
The final day of the event on Sunday 6 September will see a range of bands and ensembles of varying types join with brass bands to provide a wide variety of musical entertainment. Appearing in the Sunday programme are Newtongrange Silver Band, West Lothian Schools Brass and Pipe Bands, Loanhead Brass Roots, KODA, Alternative Medicine Swing Band, Sound of Seventeen Big Band, West Telferton Caledonian Ceilidh Band, Midlothian Ceilidh Trail, Paisley Accordion Orchestra, City of Edinburgh Pipe Band and Newtongrange Pipe Band. The Sunday afternoon programme includes the very popular Praise in Brass concert, a _Songs of Praise_ style programme performed by Newtongrange Silver Band and the spectacular massed band finale.
Brass in the Park 2009 is part of the official Homecoming Scotland celebrations, a programme of events supported by the Scottish Government to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. In addition to support from Homecoming Scotland, Brass in the Park is also supported by Midlothian Council, the Midlothian Homecoming Fund, the Len Thomson Charitable Trust, the Scottish Coal Industry Special Welfare Fund, the Dean Tavern Trust and Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association.
As always, Brass in the Park has lots of extra features such as a Craft Fair, a Local History Fair, a Children_s funfair, various stalls and trade stands, the beer tent and a range of catering outlets and the organisers are hopeful that attendance levels will once more reach at least 5,000 over the weekend. More information, including travel and ticket sales details, are available from the Brass in the Park website www.brassinthepark.org.uk.
