3rd Place at Wessex
Phoenix took part in their last competition of the year at Weymouth yesterday. 20 bands took to the stage in the Weymouth Pavilion as part of the Wessex Brass Band Association championships. The competition was not staged last year due to a lack of entrants so it was good to see so many bands, some travelling as far as Guildford and Swindon, competing.
This year the WBBA decided to have just 1 open section in which all bands competed. However, the overall prize aisde, bands were still judged on their national grading so Phoenix were up against 3 other very good 2nd section bands in Verwood, Shrewton and Gillingham.
Coming fast on the heals of the SWBBA championships in Torquay, it was always going to be a squeeze for Phoenix to be ready for this contest. However, with the help of Mike (sop) and Ray (Bb bass) from South Molton we managed to take to the stage and put on a good performance of Triumphant Rhapsody. The band owe a huge debt of thanks to Ray and Mike who both stepped in relatively late on when we needed to find cover for a few of our regular players. In addition, the band welcomed back Myra Gardiner (wife of Colin who last played percussion with us last year) onto tenor horn, having not played a brass instrument for over 10 years.
Phoenix were awarded 3rd place out of the 2nd section bands and 11th place overall. Which considering our preperations for this contest were not as smooth as we would have hoped, was a good result for us to end the year and it is another piece of silverware for us to add to our trophy cabinet.
More details about the contest and results can be found on 4BarsRest.
Released On 29th Nov 2009
