The band recently competed at the London and Southern Counties Regional Area Qualifying Contest on 18th March, in the Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage. This competition is arguably the biggest of the year, as not only does it determine the bands’ grading for competition purposes, but also provides qualification for the famous National Finals, held in the Royal Albert Hall.

Drawing the dreaded number 1 slot, the band competed against a strong field of 12 other championship section bands performing Derek Bourgeois “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea”. After putting in a great deal of work over the previous 3 months on such a demanding piece of music, the band were feeling confident about their preperation and managed to deliver a very respectible performance of the piece.

The end result was a 9th place finish which, despite being lower than hoped, was still ahead of a number of very good bands and meant that the band will compete again in the championship section in 2013.

The band would like to extend their warmest thanks to Becca Toft, who helped us out brilliantly on soprano cornet for the contest.

For full results and further commentary and analysis, visit 4BarsRest.com.