On 24th February, both the Regent bands travelled to the village of Woodstock to compete at the Oxfordshire and District Brass Band Association Winter Contest, in which each band performed a march and own-choice test-piece for adjudicator David Hirst. This was the first time in many years this contest had been held and provided a great opportunity to perform the set-works in advance of the London and Southern Counties Area Contest in March.
Playing in the “B” section, Regent Community Brass performed the march “The Australasian” by William Rimmer and “Devon Fantasy” by Eric Ball. This was only the band’s second ever contest outing, but they produced two very enjoyable performances which received praise from the adjudicator. In the final result, the band came in 2nd place for both categories behind Bletchington Silver, which showed how far the band has developed only 8 months after being formed.
Later in the day, Regent Brass took the stage in the Open Section performing the march “The President” by William German and “Harmony Music” by Philip Sparke. The band produced solid performances of both pieces and were awarded 2nd place in the march category and 3rd for the test-piece behind winners Newstead Welfare band from the Midlands. The band was pleased to give a performance with a lot of good points to build on over the next few weeks leading up to the area contest.
We would like to offer our thanks to the players who assisted the community band on the day and also to extend our congratulations to the ODBBA on running a very successful and enjoyable event
