the cooperation band deprives Whitburn of its hat-trick in tightest of margins

It was a case of saving the best until last when the cooperation band took to the stage in the tenth – and final – spot in the Championship Section of the Scottish Championships.

Under the musical direction of Dr Glen Van Looy, the band put in a scintillating performance of Philip Sparke’s Variations on an Enigma to bring the weekend’s competitive banding to an uplifting close.

Adjudicators Tom Davoren and Chris King awarded the winners 196 points and numerous individual instrumental prizes, just squeaking their rivals by one point and a couple of player awards.

In taking the spoils, the cooperation band deprived second-placed Whitburn Band, conducted by Prof Nicholas Childs, a hat-trick of consecutive Scottish Championship victories.

In a creditable third place was Bon-Accord Silver (Adam Cooke) who had seen their sister B band take the Fourth Section title earlier in the day.

The full Championship Section results were:

1. the cooperation band (Dr Glen Van Looy) 196pts

2. Whitburn (Prof Nicholas Childs) 195pts

3. Bon-Accord Silver (Adam Cooke) 193pts

4. Kirkintilloch Kelvin (Mareika Gray) 191pts

5. Coalburn Silver (Gareth Bowman) 190pts

6. Kingdom Brass (Thomas Wyss) 188pts

7. Bathgate (Craig Anderson) 187pts

8. Dalmellington (Erik Janssen) 186pts

9. Unison Kinneil (Raymond Tennant) 184pts)

10.  Dalkeith & Monktonhall (James Chamberlain) 183pts

Instrumental awards

Gavin Lindsay Quaich for best soprano: Wouter Zuidam, Kirkintilloch Kelvin

Terris Medal for best cornet: Jim Hayes, the cooperation band

Alex Chalmers Memorial Quaich for best flugel: Stephanie Kennedy, the cooperation band

Bram Thompson Medal for best horn: Chris Hamilton, the cooperation band

James MacMillan Medal for best baritone: Carole Ednie, the cooperation band

Curly Wilson Memorial Trophy for best euphonium: Chris Flynn, the cooperation band

John Campbell Award for best trombone: Mark Boyd, Bon-Accord Silver

Angus Pearse Memorial Trophy for best bass: Alan Gourlay, Whitburn

James Hills Memorial Trophy for best bass section: Whitburn

Hugh Johnstone Memorial Trophy for best percussion section: Whitburn

The adjudicators’ remarks and results were livestreamed on the SBBA YouTube channel and can be found here.

Day Two of the championships started with the first of the Fourth Section bands taking to the Perth Concert Hall stage at 9.30am. Making their assessments of the 11 bands’ performances of Music for Jock Tamson by Alan Fernie were adjudicators Stan Lippeatt and John Boax.

On completion of this section, it was the rendition of the Bon-Accord B Band, playing off the no.1 spot under the baton of Jennifer Cook, that pleased the judges the most. Following them on stage was Buckhaven & Methil Miners (Steven Craig) who took the runners-up spot. Hawick Saxhorn (Stuart Black), playing no.4, came third.

So the first three placed bands came out of the first four on stage – quite an unusual phenomenon!

The full results from the Fourth Section were:

1. Bon-Accord B (Jennifer Cook) 185pts

2. Buckhaven & Methil Miners (Steven Craig) 183pts

3. Hawick Saxhorn (Stuart Black) 181pts

4. Kirkton Brass Bathgate (Simon Railton) 180pts

5. Stranraer Brass (Angela Miller) 179pts

6. Dundee Instrumental (Bob McDonald) 178pts

7. MacTaggart Scott Loanhead (Peter Holmes) 177pts

8. Turriff Silver (Matt Bailey) 176pts

9. Coalburn Intermediate (David Fehilly) 175pts

10. Whitburn Heartlands (Andrew McMillan) 174pts

11. Dunfermline City Brass (Andy Shaw) 173pts

The best instrumentalist prize went to the euphonium player of Bon-Accord B. Winning the Tommy Dennington Trophy for the youngest BBb bass player was Jack Mayer of MacTaggart Scott Loanhead.

Before the results were announced Carrie Boax presented the SBBA President’s Award to former business advisor Paul Wood for all the work he had done in ensuring that funding streams were made available to the association over the past 10 years or so.

Paul has now stepped down from his role and his work has been taken up by funding officer Aileen Douthwaite.

An emotional Alan Fernie – composer of the test piece, who was introduced  by John Boax as SBBA’s ‘jewel in the crown’ – took to the podium to explain that although the music had not been conceived as a contest work, he had been highly entertained by every band which had brought something special to the stage.

Adjudicator comments and the results were livestreamed on the SBBA YouTube channel and can be accessed here.

The first two bands in the Fourth Section qualify for an invitation to the National Finals in Cheltenham on the weekend of 14/15 September and in the Championship Section for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 5 October.

In the non-competing Section 4B, adjudicator John Boax assessed the 15-minute own-choice programme of three bands – Brass Central Strathearn, Clackmannan District Youth & Development and Forfar Instrumental – for constructive feedback. The performances of the 4B bands were livestreamed on the SBBA YouTube channel here.