This blog post outlines my experience at this year's Yorkshire Regional Championships, held in Huddersfield Town Hall, where I performed with The Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
Anyone who subscribes to my blog will have seen me write these 'My Experience' type posts in the past, so have a search through my older posts for some of them if you are interested. It is something I enjoy doing and is a nice way to share preparation tips, behind the scenes insights, discuss musical things and debrief a bit before moving onto whatever I am doing next on my musical journey!
Embarrassment!
Sadly we didn't get a very good result, despite putting in a decent performance. I think I'll be grumpy for a few weeks after this one. It is very embarrassing and frustrating to have placed 9th out of 12 bands. The luck of the draw was not on our side as we were the first band to perform which might not have helped but it is what it is and we just need to learn and move on.
Big congratulations to the winners and qualifiers in all the sections but especially Black Dyke on their momentous 5th victory in a row! Full results here.
Test Piece Selection
There has been a lot of talk regarding the selection of the test piece 'Diversions' by Derek Bourgeois and it's suitability for championship level. I like the music of Derek Bourgeois and Diversions is a fine piece of music but I wholeheartedly agree that this was a poor choice for a contest. It wasn't enjoyable to rehearse, perform or hear in a contest setting. Even if the result was different, I would feel the same.
I appreciate some bands will have been rehearsing the piece much longer than we did but for those not clued up in the ways of brass band contesting, the level of detail required is immense, which means rehearsals on a piece like this can be tedious, going over and over the fine details, aiming for perfection. If we were preparing the piece for a concert, we would probably play it through a few times and it would be ready to go.
It was a strange one, because on one level it was very easy but for anyone who have performed in the Championship section before or have played with any of the top bands, the pressure on the stage is exhilarating but daunting, making no performance easy because there is simply no room for errors.
For this contest, I'd usually be starting my prep of learning the test piece at Christmas. I had a concerto to prepare for my trip to Washington so that took over everything musically for me. Plus, for Diversions, most parts were pretty much sight readable.
Here highlights one part making this test piece inappropriate. Are those picking the test pieces purposely looking to even the playing field perhaps, I do not know? My actual part was probably around the level required for grade 7 on the euphonium if taking an exam with Trinity or ABRSM. Playing the piece felt very underwhelming and it just never felt like a proper test piece. Again, I say all this with no disrespect to the composer.
Double Edged Sword
It's a bit of a double edged sword, because on the one hand, I expect to be challenged, I want to have to work hard to develop my skills to meet the demands of a test piece. I still have a lot to learn at this level and I want the new experiences. On the other hand, sometimes it is nice to have a more relaxing contest day due to playing something easier. This piece was easy but also challenging at a basic level, I am going to repeatedly contradict myself here but it challenged bands with simple things and I think that was good.
I know one thing for a fact. I couldn't have done anything to enhance my bands chances of a better result and I found this really frustrating. As a principal player and especially for principal cornet and euphonium, we are usually tasked with the biggest challenges and hardest bits to play but from my point of view, this was not the case with this test piece.
Brass bands in the UK have some of the best players on the planet and this test piece just didn't provide the technical challenge that I think there should be or maybe that I want. I am sure when the next big test piece appears and is unplayable, I just might eat my words, we will see!
I think it is great that other instruments in the brass band get more spotlight, the soprano cornet, horns and percussion perhaps (who were hardly needed for this test piece) but from speaking to other players it seemed they were also frustrated by the contradiction of it's technical challenges.
This is my personal blog and I always write my honest thoughts, not everyone will agree and you are welcome to your own opinions. Feel free to share any in the comments below.
Contest Prep
My proper prep started just a few weeks before the contest. The music was very delicate and although I usually feel confident that my quiet playing is good, it clearly wasn't good enough for this piece. Just having that confidence and skill to start a note cleanly, with a great sound but as soft as possible in exposed moments, is a massive challenge and this is what I spent a lot of time on in my practice at home. So interestingly, despite the test piece being easy, playing it at the expected level for a band like Grimethorpe was hard, created by the extreme quiet music. Again, demonstrating this contradiction I have mentioned. I've never experienced this sort of contest piece before.
I do feel like my quiet playing has improved a lot as a result but it is not fun to practice. I was playing lots of slurs and intervals but as quiet as possible and even invented some exercises specifically for this contest piece. I usually try and do some big blowing practice every day, to keep on top of loud sounds and stamina but that all went out the window in the lead up to this contest.
I think I would prefer a massive euphonium cadenza in a test piece rather than tiny little exposed bits. I became obsessed with one bit in Diversions, to the point where I would repeat that bit over and over marking a cross or tick, to try and get 100 goes perfectly in a row. The most I got, for anyone wondering was 90%. Time to rein in my OCD I think but I am sure some players must do this as well.
In fact, I often try and get my heart rate pumping a bit in practice at home to simulate how I might feel on stage right before playing a solo. I will run up and down the stairs and then practice playing under those conditions. I have even simulated being dizzy by spinning on an office chair, sounds (and looks!) utterly ridiculous but I guarantee playing on the stage will never feel as horrible as this, see video example, maybe it needs a ⚠ don't try this at home ⚠ disclaimer, but it actually does help.
When it came to the week before the contest, our professional conductor took over and our performance of the test piece started taking shape. We had an open rehearsal on the Thursday before and many who listened said it was the best the band had sounded for some time. Very tight, musical and stylish. We started the rehearsal by playing a hymn to remember Grimethorpe tuba playing legend, Roy Batty who sadly died that week.
Troubles?.....Not at all!
Obviously it has been in the news about some financial troubles the band was having over the last year. While it may not be completely resolved, the organisation and financial situation of the band has improved immensely. None of this I should add, has had any impact on the quality of the musicians or the quality of the bands live concerts. If anything, they have improved during this time. This contest result is in no way a result of troubles in the Grimethorpe Band.
We went to this contest with the goal of winning. Nothing short and this band is absolutely capable. I think if I had to be picky, I'd have liked to have ran the whole piece through many more times as a band in rehearsals, just to get into the feeling of the performance more. Otherwise, I couldn't fault our preparation.
The Contest Day
On the morning of the contest, we received the news that we were drawn to play first. Does it change anything, no, but inside, there is a bit of a sad feeling that it is rare for bands to win from playing first. Especially with a test piece like Diversions because probably 7 or 8 bands in this region could be capable of winning on this test piece. All will have worked hard and all love to beat any of the top named bands, and so they should.
Our performance was good but not outstanding. Maybe a few small errors too many but overall I was very happy with how I played. I had ran that piece through at home so many times that for me at least, it was surely almost impossible to make any sort of mistakes. Here is a small clip from the slow movement, quite beautifully played.
To come 9th after the amount of time spent playing my euphonium in the lead up, amount of miles done in the car, the time spent away from my family and the commitment to the cause from everyone in the band is just really hard to take. But, can only make us want to win more!
Risk vs Reward
I only listened to 2 different bands from inside the hall. A few things were very clear to me. You got a very different audio version from sitting in different locations in the hall and further back, there was far less clarity. The adjudicators were going to need to be listening very closely.
Both the bands I heard featured a Bb cornet player playing the Eb Soprano main exposed solo passage. There was also discussion on the day about some bands use of mutes to play the very quiet bits. Check out one of my blog posts all about mutes. For me, a conductor has the brass band as his or her resource to put across the music as accurately as possible. On the one hand it could be a risk to make these alterations but those risks could also be highly rewarding.
What do you think? Should contests have a person watching the bands and knocking off points if they swap parts around? That would be about as popular as VAR in football I think.
What I would hope, is that every musician in a band, when they get their part, they do their very best to develop their skills were needed to be able to play every note on their part. I think there are probably some players out there with lower expectations of themselves and if only they had some extra belief and did some well structured practice then anything is possible for them. This is said with no disrespect to players or conductors by the way.
2026 Test Piece Prediction
I am going to suggest a couple of championship section test pieces that I would love to see used next year. Not really a prediction as such, but just my thoughts on what I'd love to play.
1) The Night To Sing - Bramwell Tovey
2) Cataclysms - Roland Szentpáli
3) Afterlife - Stijn Aertgeerts
New composers to commission maybe....What about Kevin Day? And it is definitely about time the brass band movement start commissioning more female composers to write test pieces!
What's Up Next For Me?
I have some really exciting things coming up and as usual for me, I have no break from my playing after the area contest. The next day I was working hard on my euphonium playing ready for the next challenge. Here is a list of things I have coming up this year:
Guest Soloist
I will be performing as guest soloist with a brass band in Derby, UK in May 2025. Also possibly with another band based in Sheffield. I am really excited about these opportunities. I am always keen to do this sort of thing, so if your band are interested, get in touch!
Grimethorpe Youth Band
I will be tutoring with the youth band again and this is always such a fun time. Any players interested in attending just get in touch!
Spain
I have been invited to perform a concerto with brass band at the ITEC 2025 (International Tuba Euphonium Conference). I have proposed which concerto I'd like to play to the organisers already and it is a lesser played classic. However, I need to look into some funding because the event is in Valencia, Spain and I need to see how I can fit it in around work, band and family life.
Hong Kong
Still in discussions but I am hoping to visit Hong Kong for some teaching and performance later this year. It is a place I have visited before, in 2016!! Check out this recording from the recital I gave back then.
Grimethorpe Concerts
Lots of brilliant sold out concerts are coming up with the band including some weekends away. Come and watch a concert!
Product Reviews
I have some new products to review coming soon including some accessories and something to help clean brass instruments with. To receive any new blog posts straight away, feel free to subscribe to the site.
Good luck to all those bands taking part in the other regional contests!
Thanks for reading! ❤
Mark Glover
4/3/25
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