The 48th National Band Championships of Ireland were held on Saturday the 6th April in the University Concert Hall in Limerick.

Full day

Philip Sparke enjoyed a full day of both concert and brass band competition, where all the set works were written by the composer himself.

Downshire Brass conducted by Michael Alcorn took the Section 1 title, with their twin performances of the set work, ‘Between the Two Rivers’ and their own choice selection of ‘Tallis Variations’, to beat off the challenge of Drogheda Brass and Lourdes Brass.

Opted

Drogheda opted for an own choice selection of ‘Crusade’ by Rieks Van Der Velde, whilst Lourdes performed ‘Shine as the Light’ by Peter Graham.

More results can be found at: www.iabcb.org

Result:

Section 1 Brass:
Adjudicator: Philip Sparke
Test Piece: Between the Two Rivers (Philip Sparke)

Test/Own Choice = Total

1. Downshire Brass (Michael Alcorn): (94/48) = 142
2. Drogheda Brass (Michael Maher): 93/44) = 137
3. Lourdes Brass (James McCafferty): (91/44) = 135