The Woodfalls Band has announced that Ray Farr will lead them in their National Finals assault at the Royal Albert Hall in October.

Top six

The West of England qualifiers will be looking to better their sixth place finish from 2013, with the MD already making the trip down from the North East to start work on Peter Meechan’s ‘The Legend of King Arthur’.

Ray told 4BR: "It’s an absolute joy to work with such a fine band on this exciting work, and I look forward to the Royal Albert Hall performance immensely."

Signings

New youthful signings will also boost the band’s appearance, with Lauren Chinn making a welcome return on cornet, Matthew Fletcher coming in on second euphonium and Lawrence Wareham joining the percussion section.

Two very experienced players also join in time for London, with Janine Aston coming in on cornet and Pat Brady joining on BBb tuba.

Grant aid

Meanwhile, Grant Jameson, a finalist in the 2014 BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Awards joins on solo euphonium from Tongwynlais Temperance.

Band Chairman Paul Street told 4BR: "Our principal euphonium John Starkes suffered from ill health earlier on in the summer which forced him to temporarily stop playing.

However, John is making a return to full health and the band wish him well as he gets back to playing, so we are delighted to welcome Grant, who will be a great asset to us."

It’s an absolute joy to work with such a fine band on this exciting work, and I look forward to the Royal Albert Hall performance immenselyRay Farr

Hard work

Paul added: "We have already had several very enjoyable, hardworking rehearsals exploring the Arthurian sound world and we are looking forward to London and our début Brass in Concert a little later on in the season.

It’s a pleasure to work with Ray for the first time and our new signings have brought a wealth of talent to our bandroom."