THINGS are looking good for Sellers International Youth Band which was in winning form again at the weekend.
The band, under its musical director Mark Bousie, won the Tameside Youth Open Contest at the Tameside Hippodrome in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Added to the overall band success were a clutch of individual successes with Sellers having the best cornet, basses and percussion section on the day. The adjudicator was Richard Marshall.
The young musicians played 10th out of 11 competing bands and the band’s programme included two Peter Meechan compositions, Fanfare For A Festival and Apex, a cornet solo featuring Joe Murray; Volero, the march, Goldcrest, Irish Blessing and concluding with The Can Can.
The weekend victory rounds off an impressive year for Sellers International Youth. The band started its year in February with fourth place at the Action Research Youth Entertainment Contest, a gold award at the National Youth Championships, followed by further success at the Bray Pogson contest and second in the youth category at the Brighouse Hymn and March contest.
There was more to come. In June, the band was named Pontins Champions in the B Section and went on to make its debut at the National Festival of Music for Youth at Symphony Hall in Birmingham.
Conductor Mark Bousie said he was delighted to have won. He paid tribute to his young musicians for their commitment after what had been a “difficult time for everybody” with the news that the senior band was to fold.
