Campbeltown Brass’s first ‘Let the Music Play’ recital provided the perfect practice for this year’s Scottish Brass Band Association’s Scottish Championships.
The band’s musicians welcomed a capacity crowd to Kirk Street Hall on Friday March 1, for the first in a series of planned events to celebrate the many talented musicians of Campbeltown.
As well as performances from the band’s own members, including qualifiers for the Scottish Solo and Ensemble Championships on March 23, the audience was treated to the sounds of singers, members of Kintyre Schools Pipe Band, piano soloists and a guitar player.
The recitals also aim to introduce young musicians to professional artists of different genres, with the first guest soloist being lyric coloratura soprano Rebecca Watson Hill, who sang Casta Diva by Bellini and Je Veux Vivre by Gounod.
“Her performance was outstanding and the audience was mesmerised,” said Katrina Barr of Campbeltown Brass, “everyone was blown away by how powerful and emotional it was.”
She added: “Well done to all of the performers who took part and thanks to our accompanists Catherine Black, Rebecca Watson Hill and David Cosgrove.
“We want to thank everyone who made this event such a success and we look forward to our next ‘Let the Music Play’ evening in Kirk Street Hall on Friday June 7.”
The evening proved to be the perfect opportunity for Campbeltown Brass’s members to perfect their skills ahead of last weekend’s Scottish Brass Band Association’s Scottish Championships, where their “tremendous” performance saw them secure their place in the second section for another year.
“We are incredibly proud,” said Katrina, “it was a great performance from the band and the soloists, and all the hard work from players and our amazing conductor Andrew McMillan paid off.
“Our young team did amazingly well – there won’t be many second section bands with three under-15s on the front row and a 13-year-old soprano player!
“All our soloists played superbly and we had some fantastic feedback from the adjudicators.”
Katrina added that it was lovely to see many ex-members of Campbeltown Brass playing in other bands throughout the weekend.
She said: “Special mention to Stephanie Kennedy who played flugel with the Cooperation Band, which won the championship section and was awarded best flugel prize, and Andrew McMillan, who played solo horn with the Whitburn Band, which was runner up.”
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