The Simon Hocking House of Travel Invitation Slow Melody drew a capacity crowd to the Christchurch Town Hall last night.

The glamour event of the New Zealand National Championships, ten invited performers captivated the audience with pure sounds, musicianship and style.

The winning performance came from Christchurch tuba player Phil Johnston who chose to play the John Golland piece, Ballade. Phil is pictured here with adjudicators Peter Adams, Simone Rebello and Kevin Dell.

Second place went to Colin Clark from Woolston Brass, third to Riki McDonnell, and a Highly Commended to Ashley Gittins from Brisbane.

The evening has become a popular event due to the flexible format which gives musicians an opportunity to play own choice music, also with the option to vary the instrumentation of the accompaniment.

Phil Johnston from Woolston Brass was accompanied by Jill Pears on piano. Colin Clark on soprano played a stirring rendition of Sparke's Flowerdale backed by an eight piece ensemble from Woolston Brass, and euphonium player Riki McDonnell chose a Richard Phillip arrangement of There Will Be God with piano and cello accompaniment.

Many considered the choice of a winner to be a very subjective one, given the quality of the top performances of the evening.

Chief Adjudicator for the championships, Simone Rebello commented that on this occasion the adjudication panel were looking for quality of sound, style, shaping of phrases, and a particular 'x-factor' where as listeners you were drawn into music. Long phrases were also mentioned as being a feature they were looking for.

The other performers were Lisa Rogers (flugel), Steven Booth (baritone), Roseanna Dale (horn), David Chaulk (trombone), John Lewis (cornet), and Andrew Large (cornet).

The New Zealand Band Championships continues today with the Open solos and the Champion of Champion events this evening. Band events start tomorrow and conclude with the Band of the Year on Sunday afternoon.