A qualifying competition for the "National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain", the Welsh Regional Championships sees bands from all over Wales descend to Swansea to compete for the all-important Finals 2024 invitation spots.
The BTM Band has competed at the Welsh Regional Championships virtually every year since 1975, and the band was once again in attendance last weekend.
Since BTM's demotion from Championship Section in 2016, the band has competed in Section 1. BTM's results in the last few years have been consistently strong, and the band has been close to promotion back to Championship Section without achieving the feat.
This year's set test-piece was Eric Ball's "High Peak", a real test of the competing bands' credentials with lots of solo and exposed ensemble playing. It was also a test for the Musical Directors, with so much musical nuance required to ensure the work flowed smoothly.
BTM's preparation for this competition was exemplary, with good rehearsal attendance and lots of hard work put in by the players. Even the emotional funeral for BTM founder Keith Hutcherson didn't deter the band - in fact it spurred the players on to perform at their very best.
The band performed well onstage at Swansea's imposing Brangwyn Hall, and this was reflected in the result. BTM came 2nd behind a very strong Northop Silver (who currently compete at the top level of banding at the British Open). More importantly, this result - added to the 4th place BTM achieved in 2022 and 3rd in 2021 - means that the band is promoted back to Championship Section for 2025 onwards. A fantastic achievement, and the culmination of nine years' hard work by the band's core members and players!
FULL RESULTS
SECTION 1
Saturday 16 March
Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
Adjudicators: Dr Rob Wiffin & Sandy Smith
Test piece: High Peak (Eric Ball)
1. Northop Silver (Thomas Wyss)*
2. BTM (Jeff Hutcherson)*
3. Goodwick (Ian Wilkinson)
4. Parc & Dare (Dewi Griffiths)
5. Deiniolen Silver (Lois Jones)
6. Lewis Merthyr (Craig Roberts)
7. Burry Port Town (Andrew Jones)
8. Abergavenny Borough (Lana Tingay)
Best Instrumentalist: Steph Jonas (cornet) — Northop Silver
*Qualify for invitation to Section 1 National Final
