Regional Announcements for 2014 Area Contests

The Yorkshire Regional Championships have released the format of their 2014 contest.


The Yorkshire Regional committee has announced the schedule and adjudicators for the Yorkshire Brass Band Championships 2014. The Championship will take place as usual in St. George’s Hall, Bridge Street, Bradford on the weekend of 1 and 2 March. The schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Saturday, 1 March commencing 10.30am
Section 3: Adjudicators Alan Morrison and Stan Lippeatt.
Section 1: Adjudicators David Read MBE and Mike Kilroy.

Sunday, 2 March.  Commencing 9.00 am
Section 2: Adjudicators David Horsfield and Dennis Wilby.
Section 4: Adjudicators Anne Crookston and Alan Morrison. 
Championship Section: Adjudicators David Read MBE and Stephen Roberts.

Commenting on the appointment of adjudicators, Peggy Tomlinson, Yorkshire Regional Secretary, said: “We will be pleased to welcome all the adjudicators to St. George’s Hall next March. Most are familiar faces with the exception of Anne Crookston and Stephen Roberts, who will be in the ‘box’ for us for the first time. The adjudicators are looking forward to the challenge and I feel confident we may look forward to a good weekend’s contesting at Yorkshire 2014.”You can visit the Yorkshire website www.regional-contest.org.uk/yorkshire for full information and updates on the contest. Tickets go on sale via St. George’s Hall Box Office and on-line from Monday 13 January 2014.


The North West Regional Championships also announces it's panel of judges.

The North West Regional Committee have announced that the adjudicators for the 2014 Championships on Sunday 9 March, at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool will be as follows:


Championship Section: Jim Davies and Barry Thompson

Section 1 Richard Marshall and Simon Kerwin

Section 2: Alan Morrison and Allan Holdsworth 

Section 3 John Roberts and Stephen Brodie

Section 4: Gordon Higginbottom and Brian Rostron


Unfortunately, Simone Rebello had to withdraw from the panel and the NW Regional Committee is delighted that Gordon Higginbottom has agreed to adjudicate.  It has been a number of years since Gordon adjudicated at the North West Regional, due to conducting commitments.
The sections will take place in either the Opera House, Empress Ballroom or Pavilion Theatre.


Peter Bates has also been nominated and has again accepted the position of Regional Secretary for the region. BBW have also been informed that the North West Regional Contest 2014 will be held strictly under the Rules of the National Championships 2012. The Regional Committee is also delighted to have the continued support of the teams of over 50 stewards, headed by Gary Walzcak, Ian Mason and Ian Pendlebury, who run the three halls on the day.


Scotland announce adjudicator details and and a new youth initiative for 2014


The team of adjudicators for Scottish Championships on 8 and 9 March 2014 in Perth Concert Hall have been announced as: Championship Section: David Read MBE and Michael Dodd; Section 1 - Stan Lippeatt and David Hirst; Section 2 - Alan Morrison and David Read; Section 3 - Stan Lippeatt and Alan Morrison; Section 4 - Michael Dodd and David Hirst.
Sections 2, 4 and 3 take place in that order on the Saturday and Section 1 and the Championship Section (again in that order) on the Sunday.


The 2014 Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships, which forms part of the Scottish Festival of Brass, has enjoyed significant growth in recent years. The 2013 youth Championships are now a two-day event, to accommodate the many entries across the six available sections, and will take place on 17 and 24 November at Perth Concert Hall. 

As part of the development of this expansion, The Scottish Brass Band Association is delighted to open the doors to youth band challenges from other parts of the UK with this year’s introduction of the Open Senior and Open Premier sections.

Said a spokesman for the Scottish Brass Band Association: ‘The Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships are renowned for presenting world-class young musical talent and the new ‘open-door’ initiative in the Senior and Premier sections will now continue to develop the highly regarded reputation of the event’s performance mix, whilst widening the challenges of the competitions in these two particular sections.’

The Senior Youth section, for bands with members aged 18 and under, takes place on Sunday 17 November, whilst the Premier Youth section, for bands with members aged 22 and under, takes place on Sunday 24 November. All interested youth should contact John Gilmour: (johngilmour@sbba.org.uk).