Iwan Fox and Chris Thomas look forward to the action and discuss the issues ahead of the Championship Section National Final at the Royal Albert Hall.

They look forward to hearing 20 bands tackle Philip Sparke's 'A Road less Travelled By' in their bid to be crowned Champion Band of Great Britain.

They also look back at the British Open and the National Finals at York to ask if the result at Symphony Hall gives a form guide as well as how long will bands still actually travel the road to Kensington Gore in the years to come given rising costs and the success of the recent Section 1-4 Finals move to York.

Snell tribute

All this and we pay tribute to the great Howard Snell who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, and also pinpoint a couple of things to look and listen out for in the coming weeks from David Childs at the Cymnock Festival and Regent Brass dipping yet again into the pot of rarely heard contemporary music.