Arbroath & Carnoustie take top honours in the Fourth Section

A wee bit chillier in Perth this morning, but the atmosphere in the concert hall is warming up nicely as the Fourth Section bands take to the stage.

Eleven bands are competing in this section, playing the test piece I, Daedalus by Andrea Price for the delectation of adjudicators Mark Wilkinson and Stan Lippeatt.

Taking the top spot was Arbroath & Carnoustie Band under the musical directorship of Neill McDonald, and in second place was Stranraer Brass (Angela Miller) – both bands now qualify for an invitation to the National Finals in September.

Stranraer’s euphonium player won the best instrumentalist prize and the youngest BBb bass player award went to 12 years old Daniel Toller of Arbroath & Carnoustie.

Whitburn Heartlands under the baton of Peter Holmes came third.

Mark Wilkinson told his attentive audience that he and Stan Lippeatt had enjoyed their Sunday morning listening to the bands. The set work was a very playable piece which gave the adjudicators something to comment on regarding style, tempo and articulation.

He added that all bands played the music well overall and “had brought something to the table”.

Stan paid tribute to the Scottish Brass Band Association in putting on “one of the best organised regional championships” in a great venue. He made special reference to SBBA vice president Peter Fraser who he referred to as a “great contest administrator”.

Adjudicator remarks and results for the Fourth Section were livestreamed and can be viewed here.

The full results of the Fourth Section are:

1. Arbroath & Carnoustie (Neill McDonald) 185pts

2. Stranraer Brass (Angela Miller) 183pts

3. Whitburn Heartlands (Peter Holmes) 182pts

4. Kirkton Brass Bathgate (Paul McKelvie OBE) 181pts

5. Coalburn Intermediate (Gareth Bowman) 180pts

6. Hawick Saxhorn (Andrew Holland) 179pts

7. Dundee Instrumental (Bob McDonald) 178pts

8. Pencuik Silver (Jess Purbrick) 177pts

9. Dunfermline City Brass (Stephen Duncan) 176pts

10. Turriff Silver (Matt Bailey) 175pts

11. MacTaggart Scott Loanhead (Amy Paterson) 174pts

The Fourth Section was followed by Section 4b for non-competing bands in which players are given the opportunity to play a 15-minute own-choice programme on a large stage, not for results, but for a constructive assessment of their performances, this time by Mark Good.

The bands taking part (in playing order) were:

Clackmannan District Youth & Development Brass (Luci Lamb)

Barrhead Burgh (Alan Friel)

Brass Central Strathearn (Dougie Flower)

Stranraer Brass Training Band (Angela Miller)

Forfar Instrumental (Donald Innes)

In his remarks afterwards, Mark – who had led Renfrew Burgh to the Third Section title the day before – commented that it had been an “absolute joy” to listen to all the bands in what was a “wonderful initiative” which had had its largest entry this year.

He gave players advice on breathing and blowing in the quieter music and urged them to pay greater attention to intonation before presenting each band with his written comments.