Report & Result: 2018 Band Cymru Final

Cory head to Utrecht with a lucrative televised win to boost their confidence and coffers.

Cory will head to Utrecht for the European Championships boosted both musically as well as financially by their latest domestic competitive success, as the Welsh Area champion claimed the 2018 Band Cymru title and £8,000 first prize under MD Philip Harper in polished fashion.

The final of the bi-annual competition was enjoyed by a packed auditorium at the Grand Hall of Swansea University as well as tens of thousands of viewers at home.

It has also been reported to 4BR that it's believed that the live broadcast achieved one of the highest audience viewing figures for an entertainment programme on the S4C television channel this year.

Any one of three

In a closely fought battle, with fellow finalists BTM, Northop Silver and Band Beaumaris playing to the very top of their form, adjudicator and opera conductor Wyn Davies remarked before the announcement of the result, "â€¦ that any one of three bands could have won".

However, despite their finest efforts it was Cory that eventually claimed the title for a second time, thanks to a slickly presented set that saw them open with their backs to the audience for a subdued 'All Through the Night' introduction that smoothly segued into the free flowing 'Nordic Polska' — complete with seven piece ensemble stood at the front of the stage.

Tears to the eyes

The touching 'Aristotle's Air' featuring Glyn Williams and Chris Thomas brought tears to the eyes of audience expert Branwen Gwyn, before they closed with Philip Harper's 'disco version' of 'Winter' from Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' — played at a pace not even a fleet-footed Tony Manero in 'Saturday Night Fever' could have kept up with.

"We tried to give the judge's a bit of everything,"an understandably breathless Philip Harper said as he came off stage to be interviewed for the viewers at home. "I very happy with the way it went."

So too was Branwen Gwyn, as she revealed to "shedding tears"at the beauty of the lyrical playing from Cory's "amazing"star soloists, and to being bowled over by "the balance between the technical prowess and passion"shown in their finale — although she later revealed that her choice as a winner on the night was Band Beaumaris.

Brilliant Beaumaris

Many listeners in the hall and at home may well have agreed, as the north Wales ensemble made up of a core of long term Beaumaris brass band players supplemented by musical friends and colleagues of conductor Gwyn Evans such as Les Neish, James Fieldhouse and Gavin Saynor, brought a vibrant sense of innovation to their fusion of 'pop, funk and spirituality'.

Opening with 'Activate' by Matthew Hall, they then honked out a fully funked-up rendition of 'Moses, Get Down' by Barrie Gott, complete with authentic 1970's guitar rhythm pulse, before producing one of the highlights of the entire series with the low brass feature, 'Down in the River to Pray', featuring four tubas and three euphoniums.

They closed with Gordon Goodwin's, 'Sing, Sang, Sung' with Jim Fieldhouse swapping euph for a Benny Goodman style clarinet lead.

Branwen Gwyn certainly enjoyed it, saying, "â€¦the audience loved it"and that she felt "â€¦it had connected emotionally as well as being great entertainment", whilst MD Gwyn Evans said it was a performance "that came from the heart".

Quality

Earlier Northop opened the live broadcast under John Doyle with a quality set that saw 'Fest Musik der Stadt Wien' followed by the xylophone led skills of Gruff Boyle on 'Toccata in D Minor'. 'Calon Lan' warmed the hearts of Welsh traditionalists at home, although they would have been surprised that it was followed by the stonking drum and bass beat of Lucy Pankhurt's 'Wired!' to close.

BTM also enjoyed their appearance under Jeff Hutcherson as they delivered a solid programme opening with 'A Fanfare of Daffodils', 'Strike up the Band', the tastefully played 'Little Red Bird' featuring Tim Jones on euphonium and the closing drama of 'The Phantom Menace'.

Solo and entertainment decisions

With the musical action over it was left to adjudicators Wyn Davies, Michael Mossman and Gordon Campbell to make the all important and lucrative final decisions.

First of all Cory's trombonist Chris Thomas was presented with the 'Best Soloist' award plus £500 for his sublime semi-final performance of 'Londonderry Air'.

It was described by the renowned jazz trombonist Gordon Campbell as being, "Absolutely fantastic â€¦some of the best trombone playing I've heard for a long time and as good as I've heard anyone play it."

it was left to Wyn Davies to remark that that they had picked the overall 2018 winner, "...because of their technique and because they do the basics so well"4BR

Basics so well

Then, with the excitement mounting it was Band Beaumaris who won the £2,000 award for the best stage presentation of a single piece with their performance of 'Hora Staccato' in their semi final.

All that was then left was for Wyn Davies to remark that they had picked the overall 2018 winner, "â€¦because of their technique and because they do the basics so well".

With that, a delighted Philip Harper came forward to accept the prize and Band Cymru Trophy off Elen Rhys, Entertainment Commissioner for S4C television, before telling presenter Trystan Ellis-Morris; "The band is fantastic. They always play brilliantly and we're absolutely delighted to be going home with this prize.

We are honoured to be representing Wales in the European Championships in two weeks time, but we need to get all 40 of our members over to Utrecht in Holland.

That money is going to be extremely useful in getting us there and we hope to bring the European crown back to Wales as well."