Karen Brow is remembered at Lochgelly Band inaugural awards evening

Lochgelly Band hosted its inaugural annual awards evening as an online event on Saturday evening – and the first award to be made was a very special one, dedicated to the band’s late flugel player who sadly passed away in 2018.

The Karen Brow Memorial Award for the bandsperson of the year, voted for by band members and presented by musical director Paul McKelvie, was awarded to Keven Anderson who single-handedly used his technical know-how and wizardry to create the band’s range of virtual performances during 2020.

Meeting up on Zoom, the Lochgelly players were first of all treated to a presentation of the band’s significant achievements over the past 12 months – from the Scottish Championships in Perth where it secured third place and promotion to the first section to the light-hearted internal solo competition that was ‘The L Factor’ and onto the competitive success of a section win at the Cory Online Contest 2020 and runner-up spot at the Fodens Band virtual Whit Friday contest. 

The Chairman’s Award, presented by David Macluskey, went to solo baritone Rhona Watterson for her “superb commitment and huge sacrifices to attend band twice a week, really developing as a player”.

Principal cornet Lynsey Aitken was the first-ever player of the year award winner, voted by band members. On making the presentation, David Macluskey highlighted Lynsey’s playing success on the stage as well as in the band hall as leader of the cornet team. 

The final award of the evening was probably the most highly anticipated – given that Lochgelly are a rather competitive bunch – and it was the award for section of the year, the choice of which fell upon MD Paul who said he had based his decision on a range of criteria – from teamwork, attendance, desire for improvement, respectfulness and attentiveness in rehearsals to performance on the stage. The combination of these factors led to his choice of the horn section – Donna, Eileen, Shona, Ellen and Louise – as the winners. 

An enjoyable evening was had by all and served as a reminder that, despite the challenges that the COVID pandemic has presented for brass bands across the UK, we can still get together, make music and celebrate our successes – albeit virtually – as we eagerly await the day when we can return to the band hall.

Special thanks are extended to the family of Karen Brow whose contribution towards the evening helped Lochgelly Band to purchase the awards. Every endeavour will be made to ensure this is an annual event for years to come.