On Sunday 23rd May, the Aveley & newham Band took their annual pilgrimage to the Cambridge Corn Exchange in order to compete in the All England International Brass Band Championships.
After a dissapointing result at the regional qualifiers in March where the band narrowly missed out on Albert Hall qualification, the band were determined to pull of another performance at the masters similar to that of 2008 which saw the band come 11th.
The test piece for this years contest was 'Masters of Space and Time' by American composer Bruce Broughton. In the weeks leading up to the contest, there were mixed feelings around the band room as to the quality of the piece but nethertheless, everyone pulled together and attended a strict reherasal schedule in order to make a grand impression on the day.
After a performance which pleased the band members and musical director, they were eventually placed 9th out of 18 bands that attended by adjoudicators Derek Broadbent, Ronald Holz, Steve Sykes.
With 2009's result being an improvement on 2008 (11th) and a marked improvement on 2007 (17th). the band are looking forward to once again attending in 2010 to compete for the prizes.
Special mention has to go to the Foden's Richardson Band whose performance won them the contest, Desford Colliery who came 2nd and Wingates who came third.
Full Results are below.
| Band | Conductor | Draw | |||
| 1 | Fodens Richardson | Garry Cutt | 4 | ||
| 2 | Desford Colliery | Jason Katsikaris | 18 | ||
| 3 | Wingates | John Hinckley | 16 | ||
| 4 | Bedwas Trethomas and Machen | Tom Davoren | 11 | ||
| 5 | Brass Band Willebroek | Frans Violet | 1 | ||
| 6 | Virtuosi GUS | John Berryman | 7 | ||
| 7 | Carlton Main Frickley Colliery | Russell Gray | 14 | ||
| 8 | Reg Vardy | Dr Nicholas Childs | 12 | ||
| 9 | Aveley and Newham | Nigel Taken | 8 | ||
| 10 | Rothwell Temperance | David Roberts | 5 | ||
| 11 | Metropole Brass Band | Guy Audenaert | 9 | ||
| 12 | Brass Band Buizingen | Luc Vertommen | 6 | ||
| 13 | Sovereign Brass | Jason Glyn | 17 | ||
| 14 | Pemberton Old Wigan JJB | Mark Bentham | 10 | ||
| 15 | Redbridge | Jeremy Wise | 3 | ||
| 16 | 1st Old Boys Association Silver | Stephen Cairns | 15 | ||
| 17 | Zone One | Richard Ward | 2 | ||
| 18 | Jaguar (Coventry) | David Lea | 13 | ||
4barsrest Soloist Prize:
Glyn Williams, Euphonium, Fodens Band