New Comments on Andy\'s Blawg!! No2
Good Entertainment speaks for itself!
The new format for the West Lothian Festival of Brass was put to the test last weekend and I am delighted to say has proved to be a success.
At SBBA we were very happy with both the audience figures and with the feedback from the paying public and the players. We were also very grateful to West Lothian Council for their generous and continued support for the competition.
The biggest change this year was the ending of the two semi-finals and final format, taking place over three weekends, to the new event taking place all in the one day. Other new and welcome developments were the introduction of a warm up area and having the percussion provided for the bands.
The new format has parallels with the highly successful Brass in Concert contest. Six bands play a twenty five minute entertainment programme and are encouraged to be innovative and entertaining and to use the full facilities available to them in the Howden Centre whilst two judges (out in the open and viewing the performances) weigh up their take on the musical offerings both in terms of entertainment and musicianship.
There is however one unique feature of this competition which has persisted and survived the many changes which I find particularly interesting. At other entertainment contests such as Brass in Concert, Butlins, Yeovil, and in a Scottish context at the Land o' Burns and the Carnegie contest there is a compere provided who speaks for all of the bands. At the West Lothian Festival of Brass it is the conductors themselves who do the talking.
This means that apart from the variety of music and the variety of the different programmes on display - something which is common to all entertainment contests - the West Lothian Festival of Brass has the additional dimension of a variety of spoken introductions and comments from the various conductors.
As someone who has gone through the experience several times, speaking to the audience is a major part of what's involved in taking a band to the event as a conductor. It was therefore very interesting to be able to observe this year just how much effect the conductor's introductions and comments had on the audience's enjoyment.
I must now stress that points are not awarded for the conductor's comments, and certainly not for the quality of the jokes! However, it is very interesting just how important these spoken comments are in terms of the overall presentation.
All of the conductors spoke well. Some were more casual in style and some were more academic with a variety of chat ranging from very comprehensive to quite succinct. My point in writing this is to stress that I really like and greatly admire this aspect of the contest. Despite each of the bands being at liberty to design their programme in whatever way or direction they see fit, none of the bands choose to bring along their own compere or use a pre-recorded voice etc.
As well seeing a conductor direct their band and hearing the results of the hard work done in the rehearsal room, when a conductor turns round at the end of a piece and speaks, a welcome connection between the audience and performer is immediately made which brings the conductor's personality into play as part of the performance.
We pride ourselves at SBBA in having an open mind to innovation, and we continue to observe and to learn from other events. Perhaps this unique aspect of the West Lothian Festival of Brass is something that other entertainment contests could learn from us?
Andrew Duncan
