London and Southern Counties Area Contest 2014
Today saw the band take part in the London and Southern Counties area competition. This is the most significant contest of the year, as it decides our placing in the Brass Band league tables for the coming year.
Some bands choose not to undertake contests, preferring to concentrate on concert performances, whilst others make contesting their primary function as a band.
Here at Epping we try to strike a balance between the two - contrasting the discipline of preparing a set work for a competition with the challenges of working on music chosen to entertain rather than be judged on.
This year's set work, Chaucer's Tunes by Dr. Michael Ball, consists of movements written to represent various stories to be found in the Canterbury Tales. It's a relatively modern piece compared to some of the test pieces we've played over the last few years, and makes demands of the band's ability to play as a unit ('ensemble playing') as well as being able keep tempos and dynamics under control.
18 bands entered the L&SC second section, and Epping were placed 10th out of 18. This is an improvement on last year's 12th place, and a good result for our first Area contest under our (now not so) new MD, Keith Schroeter.
10th position means we hold our ranking in the middle of the Second Section, a placing which most of us are happy with, as it shows that we can hold our own in competitions, but also allows us to spend our time putting on entertaining concerts throughout the year rather than getting totally caught up in the contesting world.
Obviously next year we will be aiming to beat this year's result - What band wouldn't? - but for now we will be concentrating on preparations for the annual President's Concert on 26th April in St. John's Church - Keep an eye on the website for full details to follow.
