The British Open Brass Band Championship
Now the dust has settled and the victors have celebrated and the others, as Harry Mortimer once famously said, have "made their own arrangements", perhaps it's just worth a quick look back to how the criteria judging system faired. As most of you will know, I was engaged in an experiment with the popular brass band website, www.4barsrest.com and the British Bandsman magazine. After each band had performed I sent my marks based on the ten listed criteria to 4BR who uploaded them immediately on their website, alongside written comments given independently by Chris Thomas.
The three 'real' judges did a superb job in most people's opinion, but as usual there was some debate especially regarding the lower placings and it could be interesting to compare their results to mine.
I'm also very appreciative to the many people who tried it, and sent me their results and feedback. We will see what the next steps are!
Test Piece: 'The Triumph of Time' — Professor Peter Graham
Adjudicators: Dr Michael Ball, Rob Wiffin, Allan Withington
1. Cory (Philip Harper)
2. Brighouse & Rastrick (Prof David King)
3. Black Dyke (Prof Nicholas J.Childs)
4. Brass Band Willebroek (Frans Violet)
5. Grimethorpe Colliery (Dr Robert Childs)
6. Desford Colliery (Leicestershire Miners Trust Fund) (Michael Fowles)
7. Leyland (Thomas Wyss)
8. Co-op Funeralcare (Allan Ramsay)
9. Fairey (Garry Cutt)
10. Rothwell Temperance (David Roberts)
11. Flowers (Paul Holland)
12. Milnrow (Mark Bentham)
13. Woodfalls (Howard Evans)*
14. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery (Erik Janssen)
15. Tredegar (Ian Porthouse)
16. Wellington Brass (David Bremner)
17. Foden's (Bramwell Tovey)
18. Hammonds Saltaire (Morgan Griffiths)*
19. Jaguar Land Rover (Dave Lea)
Final Marks Steven Mead
Pts. Band.
196. Cory (Philip Harper)
191. Black Dyke (Prof Nicholas J.Childs)
190. Brighouse & Rastrick (Prof David King)
188. Brass Band Willebroek (Frans Violet)
187. Grimethorpe Colliery (Dr Robert Childs)
186. Fairey (Garry Cutt)
183. Desford Colliery (Leicestershire Miners TrustFund) (Michael Fowles)
180. Flowers (Paul Holland)
176. Tredegar (Ian Porthouse)
173. Foden's (Bramwell Tovey)
171. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery (Erik Janssen)
171. Co-op Funeralcare (Allan Ramsay)
168. Wellington Brass (David Bremner)
165. Leyland (Thomas Wyss)
164. Rothwell Temperance (David Roberts)
163. Milnrow (Mark Bentham)
157. Woodfalls (Howard Evans)
155. Hammonds Saltaire (Morgan Griffiths)
143. Jaguar Land Rover (Dave Lea)
I'm still more than happy to receive any comments from people who were there on Saturday, especially if you were aware how the marking system was working, or if you were performing in a band, and happened to see the breakdown in marks using this system.
Thanks