Musicians from the Isle of Wight are celebrating after winning a round of trophies at a regional brass competition, just months after bringing home the silver from an earlier performance, making 2005 their best year ever.

 

Following their success at a Spring Contest in Hove in April, winning six cups, Shanklin Town Brass Band has matched this by taking another six at an Autumn Contest in Folkestone, on Saturday 1st October. (Both annual events are run by the Southern Counties Amateur Brass Association.) This rolling success began in March when Shanklin took 6th place out of 21 bands at the West of England Championships in Torquay.

 

It was a particular triumph for members of the Youth Band at the Autumn Contest, who won the coveted Youth Section (matching their same award from the Spring Contest), with their rendition of Ray Steadman-Allen's Stantonbury Festival - beating long-standing winners of recent years, Enderby Youth from Leicestershire.

 

Also in the Youth Section, this was complemented by Musical Director Malcolm Lewis taking the Conductor's Prize, and the band also being awarded Best Hymn Tune. Three days before her 18th birthday, Euphonium player Charlotte Davis won Best Instrumentalist of the section.

 

Shanklin's Senior Band added to the results by taking 3rd place in the Third Section with a rousing performance of Peter Graham's Dimensions, and the band's new Principal Cornet Tracey Bennett won Best Instrumentalist of the section. Tracey is a graduate of the London College of Music.

 

Speaking after the result, Musical Director Malcolm Lewis said: "This ends a winning year for Shanklin - our best yet. With a dozen trophies under our belt from these two regional competitions, along with our strong result from the West of England Championships in Torquay, this has been a great year for our players, who have practised hard to win these trophies.

 

"It was particularly pleasing that our Youth Band beat the long-established Enderby Youth, who have won at the Autumn Contest for many previous years. With musicians aged as young as nine, we have a lot of promising talent for the future. It is great to see the Island being so strongly represented on the regional scene."