Redbridge reinforces superiority in the South

Rodney Newton reports from the London and Southern Counties Regional Championships at Stevenage

Showery weather greeted the bands on Saturday 20 March as they arrived at the Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre for the 2010 London and Southern Counties Regional Championships. However, this in no way seemed to dampen the enthusiasm and this year’s ‘battle of the bands’ was, as in previous years, well attended. The Championship Section, held on the afternoon of Sunday, 21 March, saw 12 bands compete on George Lloyd’s English Heritage. A former Royal Marines cornet player himself, George Lloyd knew the brass band from the inside and exactly how to test it (including in this work a stratospheric top E-flat for the principal cornet and top pianissimo B-flat for the soprano cornet, and not one single player last Sunday failed to get either).

Adjudicator, Derek Broadbent, commented in his remarks preceding the announcement of the results that English Heritage was one of the finest test-pieces ever written for brass bands and that all bands had acquitted themselves well to some extent, but two or three performances managed to rise above the rest. The clear winner this year was Redbridge Brass, which gave a tremendous account of George Lloyd’s test-piece, placing it right at the top of the tree, gaining Best Cornet and Best Tenor Horn awards for Matt Baker and for Chloë Mallett respectively. Following in second place was Aveley and Newham, which gave a spirited reading under Nigel Taken, while in third place, Wantage Silver ‘A’ under Philip Bailey gave an impressive performance, with largely secure soloists. In fourth place, Zone One Brass under Richard Ward had the unenviable task of beginning the contest from a number one draw, but turned in a performance of such accuracy and conviction that it remained the marker until Redbridge took to the stage, with Zone One’s Rory Cartmell receiving the Best Euphonium prize.