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2003 4BR Awards: Conductor of the Year

Read our nominations below for the above category. To vote, follow the links at the bottom of this page.


Last year this title was won in thrilling fashion by Russell Gray, who had something of a Midas touch to contests during that twelve-month period with Fodens Richardson and others. He has of course continued to do very well, but for us, even he has been eclipsed during the past year.

It’s not just about contest successes – even though it is the crudest measure in the brass band world of being regarded as good conductor. There is perhaps a “hidden” ingredient that marks out the good from the great and great from the truly inspirational. Some conductors look the part, but are really frauds in the talent stakes, whilst others think being flamboyant means wearing a slightly risqué tie, but can produce quite sublime musical performances (although that usually means they come nowhere in the prize list).

It’s what the special MD’s can do with bands on concert stages and on recordings that is the true mark – as a well as when they transfer their talents to other bands. Somehow, with these guys in front of them, just about any band can play put of their skins.

Our five we think have more than proved that they have the talent and the inspirational qualities during the past twelve months to have marked them out, so these are the men who we think deserve a nomination.


david kingDavid King

The 2001 winner of this award has had yet another incredible year of contest successes, both with his long term employers, Yorkshire Building Society and his “guest” appearances with Stavanger in Norway and the USA.

He added another two major titles to his ever burgeoning portfolio during 2003 at the Open and European (where he was tested to the very limit this year), whilst he also took time to add another Norwegian National title to his CV when he directed Stavanger to a mighty impress victory in Bergen in February and in the USA later on. He did miss out on the Nationals (which is something of a bete noir) by not making it past the qualifiers, but that somehow stoked him up even further, and he was just a point away from winning the Masters as well. It wasn’t just the contest successes though that made 2003 a great year, as he also directed YBS on a deeply impressive CD of Derek Bourgeois music and led them in a thrilling rendition of his “Apocalypse” at the European Gala Concert. You wonder what he will do if he ever gets his hands on the big silver London cup.


alan withingtonAllan Withington

If it wasn’t for a few bonkers moments of wayward playing on “The Planets” at Birmingham, then 2003 would have been the year when Allan Withington would have become the first ever conductor to win all four major brass band titles.

4th place at Symphony Hall could have been 1st place if it wasn’t for those errors, but what that performance showed was that Allan Withington had once again struck up an amazing musical relationship with a top class band, and in London he wasn’t to be denied.

Even though it wasn’t the greatest performance from the band to win, the adjudicators waxed lyrical over his interpretation and the bands attempt of delivering true “Elgarian” musical portraits. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he won, as the Albert Hall seems to suit him better than just about any other MD.

He missed the opening salvos of the year on “Prague” (lucky boy we hear some say), but by the time of Cambridge he was starting to more than make his mark at Fairey FP (Music). The Open saw him come close, but the Nationals saw him strike gold for a fourth time. Only true class can win three of the four majors, so watch out next year in Birmingham.


bob childsRobert Childs

There seems to be an insatiable appetite to succeed burning in the stomach of Robert Childs. In a year when his band performed superbly at each of the major contests they entered, he will have possibly still seen 2003 as a disappointing contesting year. He would be wrong though.

BAYV Cory won the Welsh Regional Contest in emphatic style and then missed out on the European title by the narrowest of narrow margins, whilst they were more than a little hard done by in Birmingham and played their hearts out in London.

The difference between victory and defeat can be measured in musical microns at times, and for us each performance of his band had the hallmarks of detailed preparation, thorough understanding of the score and a direct and transparent interpretation of the musical content that set them apart in even the highest class fields. If they had won all the contests they entered during 2003 there wouldn’t have been many who would have disagreed.

However, the most impressive aspect of his direction was seen in his concert and recording work during the past twelve months. They were the best band by far at the British Open and National Finals Concerts, whilst they also found time to release some very high class CD’s. It said a lot about him that he could inspire his band to perform like after suffering such contests disappointments.


Garry CuttGarry Cutt

They say the best things come in small packages, and with Garry Cutt you wouldn’t disagree. Once more during 2003 he showed that he is one of the very best brass band Musical Directors around, crowning his 12 year stint at Grimethorpe Colliery UK Coal with another flawless victory at the Spennymoor Brass in Concert Contest and also claiming victory at the All England Masters with his new employers, Leyland.

The hallmarks of his interpretations are clear – precise and detailed readings, balanced sounds and good intonation and the ability to coax his players into performing as musicians rather than just players. That’s what happened at Cambridge on “Chivalry” when the sum of the parts he put together added up to a performance that secured his first Masters title. Where others tried to make something of nothing, he made something special out of a very straightforward work that seemed to elude nearly every other MD on the day.

Spennymoor is certainly his territory though and once more his amazing musical relationship with perhaps the hardest band in the world to direct once again saw him victorious. Grimey have a well deserved reputation as a “hard” band to win over, but for 12 years he has made them perform better under him than just about anyone else. They will find him a very hard man to replace.


Helge HaukasHelge Haukas

The last conductor on our list of nominations may raise an eyebrow or two in more parochial circles, but for those of us lucky enough to see him direct his bands at the Norwegian National Brass Band Championships, and later the European Youth Brass Band in Bergen can attest to the fact that there weren’t many better MD’s going about their business in 2003 than him.

He directed two beautifully shaped performances in the top section in Bergen from an underpowered Jaren Hornmusikkforening and did the same in the Second Section with Oslo. His direction was precise and unflustered, devoid of any unnecessary histrionics and with superb clarity of purpose. Where as the top bands at the Nationals plumbed for imported talent, they seemed to us to have missed a trick by not using him.

At the European he was in charge of the European Youth Band and directed them quite brilliantly through their six concerts, drawing together disparate nationalities and talents into a fine rounded and balanced band sound with sensitivity and understanding. No one could argue that this was a real maestro at work.


Previous winners:
2002:
Russell Gray
2001: David King

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