Easington Colliery Band will head to the Scottish Open in Perth this weekend boosted by a victory in the 'Performance of the Year' category of the North East Culture Awards 2022.

Highlights

It was in recognition of their role in 'Firm As A Rock We Stand', which was described by critics as "one of the highlights"of this year's Durham BRASS Festival.

Co-commissioned with the Durham Miners' Association and Redhills CIO, the work was given a haunting and extraordinary performance in Durham Cathedral by LYR — consisting of poet laureate Simon Armitage, singer-songwriter Richard Walters, multi-instrumentalist Patrick Pearson and conductor/composer Simon Dobson.

Through words, poetry and music they recalled the struggle of County Durham's condemned Category D villages of the 1950s — over 120 small local communities that were starved of investment as part of a deliberate local government policy.

Delighted

Band Manager, Peter Lawson, who attended the awards evening at Durham Cathedral and was delighted to receive the award, told 4BR: "LYR and Easington Colliery Band gave a breath-taking performance, but had difficult competition from other amazing shortlisted performances to overcome too.

We are therefore delighted at the award, and we thank everyone who attended the performance and gave such positive feedback."