For Regent Brass, it really was time to plan a ‘Knight on the Town’ (see what I did there!) as we celebrated our amazing 3rd prize at the London & Southern Counties Regional Qualifiers (First Section) contest yesterday.
Up against 14 other bands on Phil Lawrence’s imaginative and yet challenging score ‘A Day in the Life of a Knight’ the band really did find our inner ‘film music’ selves as we put up a performance on the Gordon Craig stage which well reflected all of the hard work we have done in recent rehearsals. Adjudicators Anne Crookston and David Hirst were careful to point out the middle section of the piece and the atmosphere that gave (the Knight and the Princess during the ‘courting’ and love scenes!) and our soloists, Peter Desmond (soprano cornet), Freddie Meyers (Flugel), Brian Le Tissier (Euphonium) and Neil Rossiter (Horn) all shone in their individual solo passages and told the story with atmosphere and pathos.
Special mention though must be made for Peter Yarde Martin, the band’s Principal Cornet, who took home the ‘Best Cornet Soloist’ award on the day. Peter was able to celebrate his award before the placings were announced and even managed to get on stage to collect his award from David Hirst in person.
The band has huge gratitude for our popular Musical Director, Alan Duguid, who was full of praise for the band both before and after the results ceremony. ‘The band have worked so hard, both in rehearsals and individually, for this result and it means so much for us all – now we are all looking forward to the National Finals and the challenge that brings!’ he told us.
Up next for Regent Brass, a trip to the Whit Friday marches and a first time weekend in Cornwall where we will be competing in the popular West Country Bugle Brass Band marching contest, before we take our place at Cheltenham on the weekend of 16th/17th September!
