The 2008 Scottish Open, Challenge Shield and Challenge Cup contests will take place at the Perth Concert Hall on the weekend of 29th/30th November. Last years contest weekend was very favourably received by everyone. Competitors and audience alike were full of praise for the venue, the town and the overall enjoyment factor. The SBBA are looking to build on the success of last years event by making the Perth venue the permanent home for the contest. Perth Concert Hall resulted from a millenium project. Building on the £17m venue was begun in 2003 and the venue opened its doors to the public in September 2005. The facilities on offer include the headline 1200 seat auditorium, several smaller conference and committee rooms, warm up facilities, ample dressing rooms and of course a large bar area to the front of house. We are sure that bands used to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall will feel equally at home here. The venue is in many ways more suitable to the needs of the brass band movement.
Although a little farther to travel than Glasgow, Perth is well served by road and rail links. Indeed bands travelling from the east of the country may actually find it quicker to reach than Glasgow. If travelling from the East of the country the quickest route wold be to head for the Forth Road Bridge and then continue north on the M90 motorway all the way to Perth. Bands travelling from the West should take the M80 northbound out of Glasgow and join the M9/A9 past Stirling and north to Perth. Those fortunate bands from the North East of Scotland will be pleased to have a venue on their doorstep for a change, and a relatively easy trip south on the A90 via Dundee should get them to Perth. Rail links to Perth are also available from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen with local services also travelling from Dundee.
The prestigious Scottish Open contest takes place at the Perth Concert Hall on the 29th of November. The contest was instigated by the Scottish Brass Band Association in 2003 and was originally conceived to provide a platform for Scottish bands to test themselves against top opposition from outwith Scotland. The contest has had some success in attracting some big name bands from south of the border and that trend continues this year. Another feature of the Scottish Open contest has been the use of the top class venues and the best of facilities. This policy has proved to be a double edged sword, on one hand the use of top class facilities does help when attracting entrants but the cost associated with certain venues has undoubtedly contributed to the financial losses incurred by the contest in its fledgling years. The opening up of the contest to lower section bands, has gone some way towards providing a better financial platform for the contest. Last years change of venue was a major factor in making 2008 the most successful year yet for the contest. With the Perth venue being retained as the contests home for the immediate future it looks as though this improvement will continue.
In its first year the set test piece selection was decided by the competing bands who chose Philip Wilbys "Paganini Variations" from a list of three tests. In an exciting contest that year it was fitting that the inaugural event was won by the Scottish Champions Scottish Co-op ahead of the Hepworth (Persimmon Homes) band in second place. The test piece chosen for the 2004 contest was "Dances and Arias" and in a reversal of the previous years result the contest was won by an excellent performance from the Hepworth (Persimmon Homes) band ahead of Scottish Co-op in second place. In response to requests from SBBA member bands, the 2005 contest was made an own choice test piece selection for all sections. The Fishburn band and Ray Farr took the victory for their performance of Kenneth Downies "St. Magnus". The own choice test piece format remained in place in 2006 and the Whitburn band took their first major trophy in the 21st century with a fine performance of Wilbys "Vienna Nights" and off a number 1 draw too. For the 2007 contest the SBBA commissioned a new test piece from Peter Meechan. Perhaps with a nod to the Perthshire venue for the contest, Peter came up with "MacBeth", based on the story of the famous Scottish King. It is fair to say that there was some mixed reaction amongst internet forums regarding the piece. On the day however, it was shown to be a most wonderful test piece and another fine addition to the repertoire. Whitburn became the first band to retain the trophy with a fantastic win aided in no small part by some wonderful playing from their soloists. The SBBA have again chosen one of their own commissions for this years contest in "St Magnus". Widely regarded as one of the most testing pieces in the repertoire, it has proved a winner here before when Fishburn too the title in 2005. Whitburn will be looking to create a little bit of history here with a hat-trick of victories but they will be pushed all the way by a strong field all looking to create their own headlines.
The introduction of the Scottish Challenge Shield and Scottish Challenge Cup contests was widely applauded throughout the Scottish brass band scene. The qualification process for the challenge shield changed last year to allow the field to be increased to 8 bands. The qualifying bands now comprise of those bands finishing in positions 3 to 6 of the 1st section and positions 1 to 4 of the 2nd section at the most recent Scottish Championships. Last year saw an all conquering Clackmannan District Brass take the trophy to complete what must rank as the most successful year in the bands short history. Clackmannan took the title with an inspired performance of Sparkes "London Overture" which saw them finish a massive five points ahead of the second placed band. To some this may be seen as the "warm up fight" before the main event but not to those taking part. They will all have genuine hopes of making an impression on the adjudicators that will see them be the band which takes home the Shield.
Qualification for the Scottish Challenge Cup contest also changed last year and is now open to those bands finishing in positions 1 to 4 of the 3rd section and positions 1 to 4 of the 4th section of the most recent Scottish Championship contest. Last years contest was won by Campbeltown Brass adding to the Scottish Championship crown they won earlier in the year. The band will not be defending their trophy as their fine form continued into the following Scottish Championships where they won the 2nd section title and gained entry to the Scottish Challenge Shield. This was probably the most keenly fought of the contests last year and it could prove to be so again this year. Two reigning Scottish Champions, Dalkeith & Monktonhall and Renfrew Burgh, will be looking to impress the adjudicators sufficiently to lift the title but they will have some stiff competition from the rest of a very evenly matched field.
Also taking place in the Concert Hall on Sunday 30th November will be the Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships. This years contest will see twenty-one bands compete, almost double last years entry. The increase in entry to this particular contest is testament to the hard work being undertaken by bands throughout Scotland, ably supported by the SBBA, to develop future talent. There will be four sections at this years contest for Novice, Development, Senior and Premier bands. The reigning champions West Lothian Schools will be hoping to maintain their dominance of the event in the Premier section. Returning once again and hoping to deny them will be the former champions Aberdeen City Youth and Carnoustie & District Youth. We are guaranteed a good days contesting from the youth bands and the SBBA would encourage all attendees to return on Sunday to support the youth bands.
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2007 - Whitburn
2006 - Whitburn
2005 - Fishburn
2004 - Hepworth
2003 - Scottish Co-op
The adjudicators for the event:
Scottish Open - Stephen Roberts and Chris Wormald
Scottish Challenge Shield - Kevin Wadsworth and Jason Katsikaris
Scottish Challenge Cup - Kevin Wadsworth and Jason Katsikaris
Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships - Les Neish, James Smith and Lynda Nicholson
Because the Scottish Challenge Shield and Scottish Challenge Cup contests have early starts there will be a pre-draw for these events.
All sections of the Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships will also be subject to a pre-draw.
The draw for the Scottish Open contest will take place at 1:30pm.
Saturday 29th
9:00am - Scottish Challenge Shield
11:40am - Scottish Challenge Cup
The results of the Challenge Shield and Challenge Cup will be announced following the completion of the Challenge Cup contest. Approx 2:30pm
3:00pm - Scottish Open
The results of the Scottish Open contest will be announced at the completion of the contest. Approx 9:00pm
Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships
10:00am - Novice Section
12:20pm - Development Section
The results ceremony for the Novice and Development sections will follow the completion of the Development section. Approx. 2:15pm
2:40pm - Senior Section
5:15pm - Premier Section
The results ceremony for the Senior and Premier sections will follow the completion of the Premier section. Approx. 7:30pm