The fifth national BB/GB Music Festival was another fabulous day of music and fellowship undertaken at Chandlers Ford Methodist Church. There were over 54 entries culminating in a whole day of music finishing with a mini-showcase concert. Support from other competitors and the public was brilliant with large numbers of spectators at certain points of the day.
There were entries in six class groups: brass, woodwind, keyboards, mixed instrumentals, percussion and voice. The Music Festival continues to expand and this year we expanded into strings (guitars and Cello) as well as our first Rock group and electronic instruments.
We had over 90 participants from 11 different companies. Local companies in the South were joined by companies from Derby, Doncaster, Birmingham, and London. It was also pleasing that a number of adults entered this event demonstrating that this is not just a youth event, but an “all-age” Brigades’ event. A number of entries this year were cross-company entries made by “Brigade friends” as well as ensembles formed for the occasion as well as few non-Brigade members in entries.
Enquiries about the Festival have increased although our numbers were similar to the previous year. It is hoped that the number of entries will continue to increase again for next year as more companies get involved. **(see below)
The adjudication was provided by Simon Morgan who has an extensive background in Music Education. His expertise and professionalism was put across with positive enthusiasm which gave all performers future development goals, targets and aspirations.
The Festival, although non-competitive, encourages the individual as well as the team to perform to their highest standard, and performances which are clear, concise and communicate to the audience bridging the gap between technical ability and artistic nuances achieve very creditable results.
The broad marking range for participants was:
| Fair | 75-77 | A performance limited in its communications |
| Promising | 78-80 | A performance showing development of technique and/or communications |
| Merit | 81-83 | A capable performance showing some artistic appreciation and/or technical ability |
| Highly Commended | 84-86 | A convincing performance technically and artistically |
| Distinction | 87-89 | An excellent performance technically and artistically |
| Honours | 90+ | An exceptional performance technically and artistically |
The results were very encouraging and all faired very well:
| Fair | 0 |
| Promising | 0 |
| Merit | 1 |
| Highly Commended | 23 |
| Distinction | 15 |
| Honours | 12 |
For the ‘best of classes’ the adjudicator had the discretion to award cups and trophies to entrants who are awarded the following levels of attainment: Highly commended; Distinction or Honours.
The results for the 2011 Festival are:
| Brass | |
| Most promising Junior brass player (12 years and under) | Lizette Bailey – 1st Hedge End GB |
| Most promising brass player (13 to 18 years) | Ben Knight – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Most outstanding group in the ensemble classes. (12 years and under) | Stephen & Amy Coulter – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Most outstanding group in the ensemble classes. (13 years to Adult) | Senior Band – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Fred Mansfield Shield - Most outstanding group in the brass band classes | 7th Doncaster BB |
| Woodwind | |
| Most promising woodwind player (12 years and under) | Lizette Bailey – 1st Hedge End GB |
| Most promising woodwind player (13 to 18 years) | Thomas Mussell – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Most outstanding group in the ensemble classes | 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Vocal | |
| Most promising Junior vocalist (12 years and under) | Jessica Rivers & Megan Honey – 1st Totton GB |
| Most promising vocalist (13 years to Adult) | Jack Simmonds 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Most promising Youth Choir | CFMC Youth Choir |
| Keyboards | |
| Most promising keyboard player (12 years and under) | Craig Cotton – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Most promising keyboard player (13 to 18 years) | Thomas Mussell – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Mixed Instrumentals | |
| Most promising player | Harry Greatorex – Derby BB |
| Most promising ensemble | 1st Totton GB |
| Percussion | |
| Most promising player | Aaditya Sahai – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Most promising ensemble | Not Awarded |
| Adjudicators Medals | |
| Brass – solo | Abigail Andrews – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Brass – solo | Polly Boyles – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Brass – ensembles | 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Woodwind – solo | James Jenkins – 1st Chandlers Ford BB |
| Keyboards | Not Awarded |
| Vocal – ensembles | Jan McCarthy and Carole & Kerry-Jayne Lilly – 1st Totton GB |
| Vocal – ensembles | 1st Totton GB |
| Mixed Instrumentals – group | 1st Hedge End BB/GB |
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