There was an excellent day of contesting to be enjoyed at a packed Venue Cymru in Llandudno on the weekend, as 20 bands took to the stage for the North Wales BBA Championships.
Quality victory
And with Welsh banding enjoying such success at present, the impressive North Walian element certainly showed its quality, with Deiniolen under the direction of Lois Eifion taking the top prize in the Open Section with a fine performance of ‘Tallis Variations’.
The band’s solo cornet player Ieuan Morris claimed the ‘Best Soloist’ Award for his excellent contribution, with the band also taking the ‘Best Hymn Tune’ award.
It proved to be good enough to repel the strong challenge of Llanrug, conducted by Paul Hughes who delivered a lyrical performance of Eric Ball’s ‘Sinfonietta — The Wayfarer’.
There was a wide variety of music on show in each of the own choice sections, with further works by Eric Ball’s heard alongside the likes of George Lloyd, Drake Rimmer and T J Powell amongst others.
It certainly gave the event’s adjudicator, David Hirst plenty to compare and contrast — as well as remark that these older works still had the capacity to test bands to the full.
Section Two
In the Section Two contest there was a fine victory for Newtown Silver, who made the trip up from the heart of mid-Wales for the event.
Under the direction of the experienced Steve Edwards, they produced a solid rendition of George Lloyd’s ‘Royal Parks’ to beat off the colourful challenge of a rejuvenated Royal Buckley under Scott Lloyd who played Drake Rimmer’s arrangement of ‘Scheherazade’.
They also picked up the ‘Best Hymn Tune’ award, whilst individual solo awards went to their cornet player Stephen Griffiths and Mark Parry on bass trombone of Newtown.
Section Three:
There was a close battle for Section Three honours as Holywell directed by Northop euph star Aled Williams took the honours with a well delivered account of ‘Egmont’ overture to beat off the strong ‘Valerius Variations’ challenge of Porthaethyw/Menai Bridge conducted by Gavin Saynor.
They took the ‘Best Hymn Tune’ award, with the experienced sop star Ian Twiss showing his quality in taking the ‘Best Soloist’ prize.
Section Four:
There was good news for the overall health of Welsh banding with five solid performances from the bands in Section Four.
Rhyl Silver continued their recent run of good form under Keith Jones by claiming the title thanks to their bold performance of ‘Snowden Fantasy’, which beat off the challenge of Holywell’s ‘Malvern Suite’, with Northop Brass playing ‘Indian Summer’ in third.
Rhyl also won the ‘Best Hymn Tune’ award with horn player Steff Butler taking the ‘Best Soloist’ award.
With well delivered performances of ‘Lydian Pictures’ and ‘A Winter’s Tale’ from Porthaethwy and Deeside Silver respectively, there were further signs that North Walian banding continues to prosper ahead of the Welsh Regional Championships at the same venue in March next year.
Youth Sections:
Earlier in the day, there was further encouragement for North Wales banding with some excellent performances in the Youth, Training and ‘Starter’ band sections, whilst an award for the best flugel player of the day, donated in memory of the much loved and sadly missed Iwan Williams, went to Jenny Lind Morris of Deiniolen.
Northop B claimed the Section Five title under David Davies ahead of Deeside Training and Llandudno Training, with cornet player Lewis Thelwell taking the ‘Best Soloist’ award.
Meanwhile, the excellent production line of young playing talent in Beaumaris shows no sign of drying up as they took the Youth Section 6A title under Gwyn Evans. Their excellent rendition of ‘Landscapes’, featured an outstanding ‘Best Soloist’ contribution from one of the Principality’s rising star performers, Pippa Scourse on cornet.
Both Deiniolen Youth and Royal Buckley Youth showed that they too have burgeoning talent waiting in the wings with their performances of ‘Voices of Youth’ and ‘A Saddleworth Suite’ respectively.
Fine performance
There were also other fine performances on show in Section 6B, with Porthaethwy Youth under Hannah Retallick claiming the honours with their rendition of ‘Lyth Bank Suite’, ahead of Llanrug Youth’s ‘Four Cities Symphony’ and Nantlle Juniors ‘Encores’.
The ‘Best Soloist’ award went to another rising star, cornet player Ioan Ellis Hughes of Llanrug Youth, with the talented duo of Emily Moss & Carrick Hurley of Royal Buckley claiming the ‘Best Percussion’ award.
the impressive North Walian element certainly showed its quality, with Deiniolen under the direction of Lois Eifion taking the top prize in the Open Section4BR
Results:
Open Section:
Adjudicator: David Hirst
1. Deiniolen (Lois Eifion)
2. Llanrug (Paul Hughes)
Best Hymn: Deiniolen
Best Soloist: Ieuan Morris (cornet) — Deiniolen
Section Two:
1. Newtown Silver (Steve Edwards)
2. Royal Buckley (Scott Lloyd)
Best Hymn: Royal Buckley
Best Soloist: Stephen Griffiths (cornet) — Royal Buckley
Best Bass Trombone: Mark Parry (Newtown)
Section Three:
1. Holywell (Aled Williams)
2. Porthaethwy/Menai Bridge (Gavin Saynor)
Best Hymn: Porthaethwy/Menai Bridge
Best Soloist: Ian Twiss (soprano) — Holywell
Section Four:
1. Rhyl Silver (Keith Jones)
2. Holywell (Aled Williams)
3. Northop Brass (David Davies)
4. Porthaethwy/Menai Bridge (Gavin Saynor)
5. Deeside Silver (John Pemberton)
Best Hymn: Rhyl Silver
Best Soloist: Steff Butler (horn) — Rhyl Silver
Section Five:
1. Northop B (David Davies)
2. Deeside Training Band (Clare Newbould)
3. Llandudno Training Band (Sue Hughes)
Best Soloist: Lewis Thelwel (cornet) — Northop B
Youth Section 6A:
1. Beaumaris Youth (Gwyn Evans)
2. Deiniolen Youth (Osian Thomas)
3. Royal Buckley Youth (Stephen Pugh Jones)
Best Hymn: Beaumaris Youth
Best Soloist: Pippa Scourse (cornet) — Beaumaris Youth
Youth Section 6B:
1. Porthaethwy Youth (Hannah Retallick)
2. Llanrug Youth (Dyfrig Owen)
3. Nantlle Juniors (Gwenllian Jones)
Best Hymn: Llanrug Youth
Best Soloist: Ioan Ellis Hughes (cornet) — Llanrug Youth
Best Percussionist in Section 6A & 6B: Emily Moss & Carrick Hurley (Royal Buckley Youth)
Thanks to Pedr Roberts
