‘Cracking show’ qualifies Newstead Brass to join Best of Brass in Blackpool
Newstead Brass made another step up the rankings with a ‘cracking performance’ of George Lloyd’s ‘English Heritage’ to take first place in the North West Area Brass Band Championships at Rochdale and claim the qualifying spot for the British Open Brass Bands Championships Spring Festival.
Playing first of 11 bands, Newstead’s performance set a standard that couldn't be matched by any of the other bands gaining praise from the adjudicator Mike and a knowledgeable audience to gain the top prize supplemented by the special award for best percussion section for the playing of Julian, Mark & contest debutant Nathan.
Chairperson Carrie Sudbury commented: “The band played impeccably. That’s testament to the hard work and commitment by every player around the stand as well as the support of the committee members and band friends behind the scenes. Huge thanks to our Musical Director, Martin Heartfield, for steering us to success, and a big well done to all the other bands that competed for their fabulous performances.”
The British Open Brass Band Championships are the pinnacle of brass banding in the UK featuring the top 20 bands performing at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall each September. Bands qualify via the Shield, Trophy and Cup competitions held at Blackpool each Maywith just 4 new bands invited to replace the lowest ranked bands each year.
The weekend also marked a personal milestone for long serving bass player Mike Allcock who has been at Newstead for 48 years. The contest win came in his 200th contest for the band, and was his 48th first place!. Mike said “Some of the younger players showed me how to record the contests I’d played at on the beassbandresults.co,uk website. I decided to record my contests with Newstead and found that Saturday's contest at Rochdale brought up my double century.”
Newstead Brass now prepare for further contests at the Wychavon Festival and Loughborough as well as Remembrance Sunday, a radio recording and a series of Christmas concerts. See www.newsteadbrass.band for more details.