Andrew Wainwright's 'Fallen Souls' has won the inaugural Grimethorpe Colliery Band Composition Competition.
Andrew, who is currently in the UK with his young family from his home in the USA claimed the £1,000 first prize from the jury of Dr Liz Lane and Dr Jack Stamp and will now see his work published and recorded alongside other entries from the successful event.
The runner-up and £300 prize went to Werner De Bleser for his composition 'Mirror', while the Under 24 prize of £300 was won by Nicholas Ma and his composition 'Carnival of Masks'.
Worldwide entries
105 entries from across the world made their way to Grimethorpe for consideration, with the process seeing 17 semi-finalists gaining further in-depth scrutiny before the final trio of finalists was announced.
Speaking about the victory, Andrew said on his Facenbook page: "Thrilled to have won the Grimethorpe Colliery Band Composition Competition! It was special to have been able to attend the band's concert yesterday in their home town with my parents where the results were announced.
Couldn't have worked out better timing wise with us being in England this week! Well done to all who took part and thanks to the band for holding such a great initiative."
Award winner
Andrew is already an established composer for the brass band medium, with several of his own works already performed extensively across the globe. In 2020 he set up BrookWright Music which publishes his and many other composers works. In 2018 he won the RWCMD Cory Band Composer Competition.
The band itself was absolutely delighted with the standard of the compositions and told 4BR that they were proud to give both 'Fallen Souls' and 'Mirror' their world premieres at their concert as part of the Brassed On Festival in Barnsley.
It was special to have been able to attend the band's concert yesterday in their home town with my parents where the results were announcedAndrew Wainwright
Positive
Band Manager Richard Windle told 4BR: "The whole process has been a really positive one and we were thrilled that Andrew Wainwright could join us for the world premiere of his piece.
Our composers in association, Dr Liz Lane and Dr Jack Stamp were both impressed with Andrew's work, and this was backed up by the band who after rehearsing the five finalists voted it as their own favourite."
