With the Beginners Band accolade and the Intermediate Championship title already bagged, it was left to Wardle Academy Junior Band to round off the hat-trick of National Youth titles successes in Salford under the indefatigable Lee Rigg.

Little wonder his initial reaction to joining the celebratory throng of players packed in front of the stage in the Peel Hall auditorium was to simply utter; "I can't believe it. I just can't believe it,"as he was hugged by players and supporters alike.

Stunned

And even when he was able to peel himself away from the excitable bubble of teenage revelry, he was still a little stunned.

"It's incredible,"he said. "I'm still getting my mind around it. We just heard we had won at the Intermediate Section and then raced over here. I knew we had played so well, but so had others looking on 4BR. It's an amazing achievement by the players, I'm so proud of them all."

Lee was certainly right about the standard of playing on show throughout the section, after his band had provided judges David Thornton and Michael Golding with a Gold Award marker off the number 1 draw that eventually repelled the challenges of 10 spirited rivals.

In their written remarks, David stated: "Overall, some excellent band playing — controlled, expressive, rhythmic: Thoroughly enjoyable", whilst Michael added: "An outstanding performance full of energy, musicality and fun! Extremely well done band and MD!"

Wardle opened their 15 minute set (which had to include at last one original brass band work and two verses from the Red Hymn Book) with Alan Fernie's 'Prismatic Light', before showing contrast with the hymn tune 'Angelus'. They rounded things off with a substantive account of 'Oregon' by Jacob de Haan to give the judges the energetic, enthusiastic and expressive playing they stated they were looking for.

Gold Awards

That also applied to the other Gold Award podium prize-winners, with runner-up, Fred Longworth High School, led by Helen Robinson, also showcasing 'Prismatic Light' and 'Angelus', alongside a super baritone soloist in Max Evans on 'Donegal Bay' and the finale of the first movement from Kenneth Downie's 'Music from Kantara'.

Meanwhile, defending champion Chalford Youth gained a Gold Award of excellence with their set under MD Steve Tubb, bookended by the contrasting musicality of 'Spirit of Youth' by Goff Richards and 'The Muppet Show Theme', whilst their star euphonium player Stephen Parker took a deserved 'Best Instrumentalist' trophy for his mature rendition of 'Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair'.

Silver trio

There was also a great deal to enjoy in the trio of Silver Award winners of Denbighshire Music Co-operative (the only Welsh entrant in the Championships), Lancashire Youth Brass Band and Lions Junior Brass Band — each bringing a touch of individuality to their sets that included 'Mack the Knife' and 'Rocky' to 'Vermont' by Edrich Siebert respectively.

Elland Junior Brass Band and debutants Hawkley High School received Bronze Awards (with the latter taking to the stage with just 13 players to show that quality comes in both large and small musical packages), whilst Merit Awards went to the highly encouraging performances given by Macclesfield Youth Junior Band, Stockport Schools' Intermediate Band and Tewit Youth Intermediate Band.

Realistic ambition

What was certainly uplifting throughout the event was the wide variety of music on offer from MDs who picked programmes of realistic ambition — especially with some unfamiliar hymn tune choices ('Misericordia' and 'Maryton') and the neat arrangements of well known pop tunes (everything from Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida' to Mark Ronson's 'Uptown Funk'), musicals and marches (Mary Poppins to William Rimmer) and classics from Bach to rumbas and boogies. There was even a world premiere too.

And whilst the unevenness in performance standards was noted by David Thornton in his sharply observed pre-results remarks, there was also a great deal of constructive encouragement — with his plea to MDs to carry on ensuring that hymn tune playing formed a central part of their rehearsal schedules to players to concentrate on breath control and sound rather than technique in this crucial part of their development.

And that perhaps was the secret to the winner's success; as a mature performance of solid brass banding basics saw Wardle Academy Junior Band round of a memorable day for everyone involved in the organisation in splendid musical fashion.

I knew we had played so well, but so had others looking on 4BR. It's an amazing achievement by the players, I'm so proud of them allMD, Lee Rigg

Results:

Junior Section:

Peel Hall
Own Choice programme that must include one piece of music composed for brass band and two verses of a hymn tune.
15 minutes playing time.

Adjudicators: Michael Golding and Dr David Thornton

1. Wardle Academy Junior Band (Lee Rigg) (Gold)
2. Fred Longworth High School (Helen Robinson) (Gold)
3. Chalford Youth Band (Steve Tubb) (Gold)

Silver Award:

Denbighshire Music Co-operative Brass Band (John Powell)
Lancashire Youth Brass Band (Helen Minshall)
Lions Junior Brass Band (Tom Hancock)

Bronze Award:

Elland Junior Brass Band (Samantha Harrison)
Hawkley Hall High School (Steven Cavanagh)

Merit Award:

Macclesfield Youth Junior Band (Tim Grindey)
Stockport Schools' Intermediate Brass Band (Tom Ridgley)
Tewit Youth Intermediate Band (Steve Heninghem)

Best Instrumentalist: Stephen Parker (Euphonium) — Chalford Youth