The subjective nature of brass band adjudication was once again under the microscope on the weekend, as for the second time in a couple of months Welsh banding experienced a sense of surreal bewilderment following the results of a Championship Contest.

Responses

This time it was at the South East Wales Brass Band Association Contest in Blaenavon, where the result of the top section drew immediate, as well as later responses from many in the audience openly questioning the competency of adjudicator Roy Roe.

Shocked

In an eight band own choice discipline field, the Association of Brass Band Adjudicator member stunned the hall with his decision to award the £350 first prize to a shocked Pontardulais Town conducted by Paul Jenkins.

Great playing

It gave the delighted, if slightly embarrassed, West Wales band a one point victory margin over second placed Burry Port Town, who reprised ‘Montage’ from the recent West Wales Contest, after Roy described the winning performance of 'Tallis Variations' to the audience and 4BR as, '...really great playing'.

Raised eyebrows

Recently crowned Pontins Champion Tongwynlais Temperance were a point further back in third place after their rendition of 'Paganini Variations', but it was his decision to place Tredegar in seventh for their performance of ‘Blitz’, that brought more than raised eyebrows in the foyer of the hall after the full results were revealed.

Puzzlement

Afterwards, players and supporters from competing bands were left in puzzlement at the overall decision – and the generous points (196 – just 1 point below the highest ABBA recommended mark for a championship section performance) given to the winners, for a performance that that one very experienced conductor and adjudicator described as, 'average at best'.

ABBA Secretary C Brian Buckley was in attendance and pressure will surely be heaped on his shoulders once again as for the second successive contest in the Principality the question of trust in the competency of an adjudicator overshadowed the event4BR

Presure

ABBA Secretary C Brian Buckley was in attendance and pressure will surely be heaped on his shoulders once again as for the second successive contest in the Principality the question of trust in the competency of an adjudicator overshadowed the event.

Summing up

In his summing up at the conclusion of the top section, Roy remarked that there were aspects of the playing on the day that disappointed him, although he went on to congratulate all the MDs for their efforts:

"I would like to thank the bands – I enjoyed all the performances", he said. "I was disappointed by two aspects of the playing today. At Championship level everything must be right. We had some good playing, but the dynamics, especially in accompanying soloists wasn’t good."

He added: "Some sounds got hard and aggressive, especially at ff – and that upsets me. In my day bands didn’t do this. Think of quality. There was really great playing from the winning band. One last thing – Well done to the MDs – they were brilliant. The pieces were fiendish."

Over shadowed

The outcome completely overshadowed the historic result for Pontardulais and their talented MD, Paul Jenkins, who has done a great deal in reviving the fortunes of the band in recent years.

It was their first top section victory in Wales and amid the smiles and laughter as they clung onto the Dewer Challenge Trophy there was a sense that the band was now on the cusp of making a real impact on the banding scene in Wales.

The band’s solo trombone player picked up the Selwyn James Trophy for his contribution to their historic win.

The victory was not enough however to stop Burry Port claiming the overall Welsh League title for 2009 ahead of Cwmaman Institute.

First Section

In the First Section there were no questions asked of C Brian Buckley’s decision to award the £350 top prize to Rogerstone directed by Jamie Jones, after their performance of 'Five Blooms in a Welsh Garden' gave them a two point winning margin over a delighted home town Blaenavon, with RAF St Athan a couple of points further back in third.

The result also gave Rogerstone the Welsh League title ahead of St Athan, whilst their Eb tuba player, picked up the 'Best Instrumentalist' Award.

Encouraged

Brian Buckley was encouraged by the improvement shown by the bands in this section since he was last in the box in May, and felt that there was ‘a positive difference’ in the standard of performances, although he made the telling points that he felt than a number of bands didn’t quite have rhythmic accuracy between the percussion and brass and that muted playing was an area that was still in need of improvement.

Second Section

Roy Roe had earlier been impressed by the standard of the competing bands in the Second Section, where Gareth Pritchard continued to direct Lewis Merthyr back on the track towards the top echelons of Welsh banding following their victory playing 'Verona Lights'.

It gave the band a narrow one point winning margin over second placed Ynyshir, who also played the same work, with Crosskeys a point further back in third.

Once again though there were also opinions raised over the judges decision here too, after National Second Section champion, City of Cardiff, found themselves in an unexpected fourth place.

The result gave Lewis Merthyr a share of the 2009 Welsh League title with, City of Cardiff, with the improving Ynyshir as runner up.

Third Section

Earlier, an impressive Llwydcoed under the direction of Gary Davies took the Third Section title with a commanding performance of Goff Richards’ 'Oceans', ahead of Pontypool Brass and Corus (Port Talbot).

The victory also gave Llwydcoed the Welsh League title ahead of Pontypool.

Fourth Section

Although South Wales banding is still struggling at Fourth Section level in terms of numbers, an encouraging standard of playing was evident from all four contenders first thing on Saturday morning, especially with a very fine winning performance from the young players of Goodwick Brass under the direction of Matthew Jenkins.

Following on from their impressive showing at Pontins, they once again delivered a quality rendition of Philip Harper’s 'A Gallimaufry Suite' to take the £350 first prize by a massive, and deserved five point margin over Ystradgynlais and Abertillery & District.

It also gave the West Wales band the 2009 Welsh League title ahead of Ystradgynlais.

Disappointment

The only disappointment on the day (apart from the horrendous weather) was that just one band, Blaenavon managed to enter the Junior Section, where Roy Roe rewarded Evan Smith and his young outfit a 'Gold Award' for their entertainment programme.

After a well run day in what is surely the only brass band contest held at a UNESCO World Heritage venue, Gareth Ritter of City of Cardiff Band accepted the Eric James Conductor of the Year Award, following a season in which he had directed his band to a National title and rejuvenated the fortunes of at least two other local bands under his baton.

Results:
Championship Section:

1. Pontardulais Town (Paul Jenkins) – 196
2. Burry Port (Craig Roberts) – 195
3. Tongwynlais Temperance (Andrew Jones) – 194
4. Cwmaman Institute (Graham O’Connor) – 193
5. Markham & District (Adrian Morton) – 192
6. Tylorstown (Gary Davies) – 191
7. Tredegar (Ian Porthouse) – 190
8. Abergavenny Borough (Gareth Ritter) – 189

Adjudicator: Roy Roe
Best Instrumentalist: Ceri John (euphonium) – Burry Port
Best Trombone: (Pontardulais)
Best Basses: Tongwynlais Temperance

First Section:

1. Rogerstone (Jamie Jones) – 189
2. Blaenavon Town (Andrew Jones) – 187
3. RAF St Athan (Alan Bourne) – 185
4. Penclawdd (Tony Small) – 184
5. Briton Ferry (Dr Christian Jenkins) — 183

Adjudicator: C. Brian Buckley
Best Instrumentalist: Eb tuba (Rogerstone)

Second Section:

1. Lewis Merthyr (Gareth Pritchard) – 186
2. Ynyshir (Dean Eavs) – 185
3. Crosskeys (Kerry Bowden) – 184
4. City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) (Gareth Ritter) – 183
5. Gwaun–Cae-Gurwen (Glyn R. Davies) – 182

Adjudicator: Roy Roe
Best Instrumentalist: Alan Gwynant (cornet) (City of Cardiff)

Third Section:

1. Llwydcoed (Gary Davies) – 183
2. Pontypool Brass (Patrick O’ Leary) – 181
3. Corus (Port Talbot) (Colin Hogg) – 180
4. Upper Rhondda (Dan Phillips) – 178
5. Seindorf Crwbin (Julian Jones) – 177
6. Newport Borough (Alan Hathaway) – 174
7. Ebbw Vale Town (Ceri Thomas) – 172

Adjudicator: C. Brian Buckley
Best Instrumentalist: (cornet) Upper Rhondda
Best Horn Section: Pontypool Brass

Fourth Section:

1. Goodwick Brass (Matthew Jenkins) – 183
2. Ystradgynlais (A. Morgan) – 178
3. Abertillery & District (Dean Evans) – 176
4. Oakdale Silver (Ron Probyn) – 172

Adjudicator: C. Brian Buckley
Best Instrumentalist: (cornet) Goodwick

Junior Section:

1. Blaenavon (Evan Smith) – Gold Award
Adjudicator: Roy Roe

Welsh League Champions:
Championship Section:
Champion: Burry Port
Runner up: Cwmaman Institute

First Section:
Champion: Rogerstone
Runner up: St Athan

Second Section:
Champion: City of Cardiff/Lewis Merthyr
Runner up: Ynyshir

Third Section:
Champion: Llywdcoed
Runner up: Pontypool

Fourth Section:
Champion: Goodwick
Runner up: Ystradgynlais