ELLAND Silver Youth Band are celebrating after being named National Youth Intermediate Brass Band Champions 2010.
Competing at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Elland Silver Youth Brass Band took the title to take their second major contest win in just two months.
Fifteen of the country’s top youth brass band championships played in last Sunday’s competition, but it was Elland’s stunning musical performance which stood out for adjudicators Dr Peter Meechan and Malcolm Brownbill.
They described Elland as a “class band” with a “fantastic MD”.
The band’s principal cornet player, Philip Varley, aged 17, was named “best instrumentalist” for the second year running.
The band played a 20 minute programme which featured an arrangement of Shostakovich’s March from the Jazz Suite No 2, plus the cornet solo, The Nightingale and Adventures in Brass by Ray Farr.
The band has already won the National Youth Entertainment Championships of Great Britain and winning the National Youth Intermediate Championships confirms the standard of excellence of these young brass musicians.
Musical Director, Samantha Harrison said: “2010 has just been fantastic so far, the band really is sounding superb and have worked so hard together to reach this level.
“Many of the musicians have been in the band since they were beginners. I’m so proud of them”.
The bands next performance will be at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on May 9, where they will perform at the Great Brass Arts Festival along side the world famous, and their neighbours, the Brighouse and Rastrick Band.
