On Saturday 10th May 2008, the Aveley and Newham Band performed in the Grand Shield contest in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. This contest forms part of the Spring Festival of the British Open Championships. Sixty bands competed from all around the country in three different sections. The Grand Shield is the most prestigious and holds the coveted prize of an invitation into the elite British Open contest in September. This year that prize would be decided by the experienced ears of Dr Robert Childs and Major Peter Parkes who acted as adjudicators.
The test piece this year was the fiendishly difficult Vienna Nights by Philip Wilby. It was written for the 2006 as the test piece for the British Open contest to commemorate the life and times of Mozart and takes many of its themes from Mozart's Piano Sonata in A, K331. The Aveley and Newham Band performed in that contest in 2006 so were more than aware of its numerous technical and musical pitfalls. However, we had worked very hard in preparation to overcome these difficulties and that persistence had proved successful in rehearsals.
The Aveley and Newham Band got up early on the Saturday morning for its final rehearsal on the piece and then waited for the ominous phone call telling us the draw. The Band had drawn to play number sixteen (out of twenty) which meant a long wait. Around 4pm, we gave our performance. The Band was pleased with itself. It's rendition of the music was exciting and full of energy. This was especially the case when it comes to the Band's soloists who performed admirably. However, the two adjudicators did not agree entirely and placed us 13th. The eventual winner was the Leyland Band. Our congratulations go to them and also the BTM band who achieved second place.
Despite a long and arduous journey of over 250 miles to get to this contest, the Aveley and Newham Band have always enjoyed the celebration of music making that is the Spring Festival. We looking forward to participating again next year.
