Congratulations to Carnoustie
I'm sure we would all like to congratulate Mike Robertson and the team from Carnoustie & District Youth Band for their fine win to add to their Scottish title at the British Youth Band Championships on 18th April.
Three years of hard work finally lead to the Carnoustie and District Youth Brass Band winning the Advanced Section at the British Youth Brass Band Championships in Manchester on Sunday.
The band has been in existence for three years and in their first and second years won 4th and 2nd places respectively. The band which had 42 playing members all aged between 13 and 19 years is made up of young musicians who have come through the school system in Angus. All of the brass players are taught by Michael Robertson and all the percussion players by Paul Judge, both who work wonders with their young prodigies. Ann Ness is the third instructor who assists with the development of the band.
In November last year at Perth Concert Hall, the band was crowned Scottish Youth Brass Band champions and after that success, the players set their sights on taking the British title.
Forty one bands containing about 1800 young players converged on the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester on Sunday to compete in the various categories. The Advanced category which the Carnoustie and District Band competed in was the section having an upper age limit of 19. There were ten of the finest youth bands from all over the country, including some from the heart of brass banding areas in England and Wales, competing against the Angus band.
The preparation for the competition built up over several months with conductor Mike Robertson putting the band through four challenging pieces including the test piece Laudate Dominum by Edward Gregson which was the test piece that all bands in the section had to play. Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Nick Childs, the world famous conductor of the Black Dyke Brass Band, which is one of the top three bands in the world, came to Carnoustie to spend a master class weekend with Mike and the young players putting the finishing touches to their pieces and that work certainly paid off.
The band was outstanding throughout their performance which consisted of the Olympic Fanfare, A Clare Benediction, Slavische Fantasie and concluding with the test piece. The bands' playing was so precise that it attracted high praise form the two adjudicators.
The solo cornet player for the band, eighteen year old Eoin Tonner from Monifieth, who is currently studying music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, won the best instrumentalist for the second year running. His faultless solo performance in the Slavische Fantasie piece raised the loudest applause of the day.
Mike Robertson the conductor of the band said, "What a brilliant day. I can't praise the young players enough for their performance. It was outstanding. We have worked hard to win this title and I was immensely proud to be standing in front of what has become a fantastic band today."
The band has received fabulous support from the Angus communities and much farther afield and in particular the Provost of Angus, Ruth Leslie Melville, is their number one supporter. Before travelling to Manchester the band played a concert in Carnoustie to parents, public and invited guests including the Provost and the Lord Lieutenant Georgiana Osbourne as well as head teachers and other local councillors. Bryan Knight the chair of the Organising Committee said, "I travelled to Manchester with the band at the weekend for the third year running and to come home with the title this year is just outstanding for such a newly formed band. I must thank everyone who has supported us on our journey including the parents of the players and the very generous communities of Angus. The young people in this band are a credit to Angus and their country and I am delighted to be a small part of their success along with a few other hard working committee members."
The band can next be heard when it performs at the Caird Hall, Dundee at the invitation of Lord Provost, John Letford, to take part in the Help the Heroes concert to be held on Armed Forces Day, Saturday 3rd July, to assist military personnel injured in combat.
Eoin Tonner and Mike Robertson
Congratulations also to the other Scottish representatives West Lothian Schools who were second in the Premier Section, and for a fine performance from Craig Anderson and his team from Cumnock Academy.
For full results and report go to https://www.4barsrest.com/news/detail.asp?id=11439
