Abbey Brass (Abingdon) recently came away from the Oxfordshire & District Association Contest held at Marlborough School in Woodstock with a great contest winning boost.

Argos win

Led by MD Rob Tompkins they claimed the Fourth Section honours with a splendid performance of Stephan Hodel's 'Argos' — the work that will be used at the forthcoming Regional Championships in Stevenage.

In addition, their talented Eb tuba player James Ross claimed the 'Best Instrumentalist' award.

It was the band's first contest win since they re-registered as a Fourth Section band in 2014, with their last 'registered title' success claimed a far back as 1994.

Great opportunity

An understandably delighted MD, Rob Tompkins said: "Going to Oxford is a great opportunity for the players to get some contesting experience and to get a feel for playing in front of an audience and an adjudicator.

We really played as well as I could have hoped for with three weeks to go before we take to the stage at Stevenage."

Harper visit

The band will be enjoying a visit from Cory MD, Philip Harper this week as they prepare for that Regional Championship appearance, with Rob adding: "That gives me a great opportunity to see the very best conductor in action and to see what areas of the piece he works on with the band and the difference it makes."