Bon Accord NCBBA Champions
Northern Counties Open Contest 2014 Report/Results
Bon Accord Silver see off local rivals to be crowned Northern Counties champions.
BON ACCORD SILVER BAND held off the challenge of local rivals Granite City Brass to take victory in a closely-fought Northern Counties Open Contest on Saturday.
Thirteen bands took to the stage in Kinross, keeping the audience entertained with a real variety of programmes and some fine playing throughout the day.
The champions, under the baton of Stephen Malcolm, opened their "well judged" programme with a exhilarating rendition of Peter Graham's ‘Phoenix', next featuring Mark Boyd as trombone soloist in the evocative Adrian Drover arrangement of ‘My Funny Valentine' - drawing praise from adjudicator Anne Crookston as "so accomplished and musically phrased" and "sensitively accompanied" by the band. Howard Snell's exuberant treatment of Darius Milhaud's ‘Scaramouche Brasileira' was to follow, offering a showcase for the band's percussion section who went on to claim the trophy for Best Percussion for the second consecutive year. An electrifying performance of the Greek dance ‘Zeibekikos' from Philip Wilby's Euphonium Concerto (complete with plate-smashing!) was enough to convince the adjudicator to award the day's Best Soloist prize to Richard Kidd, before the set concluded with a rousing ‘MacArthur Park'. To add to the smiles on the trip back to Aberdeen, the band also took home the Best NCBBA Band and Best First Section trophies, while soprano player Mark James completed the impressive haul of silverware by scooping the Best Soprano award.
In their previous meeting at this year's Scottish First Section Championships, Granite City Brass had led home an Aberdonian 1-2, with Bon Accord having to settle for the runners-up spot. However, on this occasion the tables were turned, and although conductor Bruce Wallace's "well thought-through" set saw them collect the Most Entertaining Programme prize, it was to be their only consolation on the day. They first drew praise from the adjudicator for their "excellent" control during two unconducted openers - the classic Samuel B. Wood march ‘The West Riding' and slow euphonium solo ‘Reverend Archie Beaton' played by Lewis Catto. With conductor now back at the helm there followed the dynamic 4th movement of Martin Ellerby's ‘Evocations' and the Trevor Sharpe trombone trio ‘Blades of Toledo' featuring Kenny Hamilton, Pauline Carroll and Martin Neale. Howard Snell's popular arrangement of ‘The Appian Way' from Respighi's ‘Pines of Rome' provided a dramatic conclusion to what Anne Crookston described in her adjudication as a "great show" offering "great variety".
Rounding off the podium positions and taking the Best Non-NCBBA Band trophy back to Ayrshire were Alan Cameron and Newmilns & Galston, with the adjudicator saying that only a few blips, clips and minor intonation issues had eventually separated the top three placings. The band opened with Howard Snell's lively arrangement of Tchaikowsky's Cossack Dance from the opera ‘Mazeppa', before Principal Cornet Douglas Cameron starred in the moving Adagio from Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, arranged for soloist by Ray Farr. Philip Sparke's ‘Mountain Song' and the day's second rendition of ‘Phoenix' rounded off their performance.
Fresh from their recent Europeans experience, the ever-improving Tullis Russell Mills under Paul Drury led home the pack in fourth place, just pipping a spirited Shotts St Patrick's to the Best Second Section award. Mark Good's Renfrew Burgh produced an encouraging performance to see off higher section opposition en route to the Third Section prize, while Buckhaven & Methil finished off the day's awards as Best Fourth Section band.
Full Results:
1) Bon Accord Silver (Stephen Malcolm) Draw 2 - 94pts
2) Granite City Brass (Bruce Wallace) Draw 13 - 93
3) Newmilns & Galston (Alan Cameron) Draw 6 - 92
4) Tullis Russell Mills (Paul Drury) Draw 5 - 90
5) Shotts St Patrick's (Michael Marzella) Draw 10 - 89
6) Renfrew Burgh (Mark Good) Draw 11 - 88
7) City of Discovery (Scott Findlater) Draw 3 - 87
8) Perthshire Brass (George D. Annan) Draw 4 - 86
9) Tullis Russell Intermediate (Steven Craig) Draw 8 - 85
10) Buckhaven & Methil (David Neil) Draw 9 - 83
11) Bon Accord B (Robert Fraser) Draw 7 - 82
12) Newland Concert (Paul McKelvie MBE) Draw 1 - 81
13) Highland Brass (Mark Bell) Draw 12 - 80
Kingdom B w/d
Best 1st section - Bon Accord Silver
Best 2nd section - Tullis Russell
Best 3rd section - Renfrew Burgh
Best 4th section - Buckhaven & Methil
Best NCBBA Member Band - Bon Accord Silver
Best Non-NCBBA Band - Newmilns & Galston
Most Entertaining Programme - Granite City Brass
Best Percussion - Bon Accord Silver
Best Soprano - Mark James, Bon Accord Silver
Best Soloist - Richard Kidd, Bon Accord Silver
Winning Conductor - Stephen Malcolm, Bon Accord Silver
