After months of rehearsal, the time is almost upon us when Norfolk Wherry Brass travel to Cheltenham Racecourse to represent the county at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, which we qualified for after coming second in the regional heats at Stevenage back in March.
The competition is stiff; we’re up against the best bands in our section from up and down the country – 22 in total.
All of the competing bands will be performing the specially composed piece “A British Isles Suite” by Jonathan Bates, tenor horn player with the world famous Black Dyke Band in West Yorkshire. The suite consists of 5 movements, each representing one of the four home nations and the Isle of Man.
It is the job of the adjudicators Mike Kilroy and Colin Hardy to sit through all 23 bands and decide which band are the 4th section champions and who should win the coveted “Best Instrumentalist” prize.
We are due to leave Norfolk at around 7:30 on Saturday morning to begin the 5 and half hour 220 mile journey to Cheltenham (with comfort breaks) and we’ll of course be keeping you updated on the Norfolk Wherry Brass Facebook and Twitter pages.
The band have been incredibly touched by all of the messages of support and donations from members of the public, they really are very much appreciated. Thank you!