Annan Town Band is to take on the world in the Battle of the Regions’ Online Brass Band Championships tonight.
Reigning Scottish Brass Band second section champions and celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, the musicians will represent “Team Scotland” on the virtual contest stage.
And their performance will be broadcast on The Cory Band YouTube channel from 6pm this evening. Entries will be judged in real time by a panel of expert adjudicators.
More than a year since they last played together on stage, the band have compiled an entertaining programme, competing alongside bands from as far afield as Norway, Germany and the USA.
The band’s secretary, Samantha Bryden, said: “The competition has been dubbed ‘Battle of the Regions’, so we really want to showcase the best that Annan and Scotland has to offer.”
The online contest has been organised by Wales-based reigning European champions, The Cory Band, and has attracted more than 130 entries across seven sections, with bands organised into teams representing their region or country.
Each band member was tasked with recording their own video and audio performances in their homes, with only a metronome click track for reference.
Samantha said: “Last weekend marked a year since we were crowned Scottish Champions in the second section.
“It was also the last time we all played together in the same
room.
“We have been busy in our homes practising and getting ready for our return to the bandroom, although it looks like this could be a while away yet.
“Technology has really been our only option to help keep our band and music alive in these most challenging times, so we are delighted to be performing virtually this evening.”
Thanks to a grant from the National Lottery, the band was able to invest in audio and video editing software to layer and mix their individual performances to recreate the full band sound.
Samantha said: “Learning to record and edit our performances has been a real challenge, so we were very grateful that long-time friend of the band and Housebound Ska Collective member, Alexandra Kenyon, was able to help us bring it all together.
“Overall it has been a really enjoyable process.
“As a band we have decided to enter a further two online competitions as part of our preparations towards the live British finals in September.”
The band is currently led by professional musical director, Andrew Warriner, and resident conductor, Simon Railton.
They have around 30 members aged from 17 to over 75, from across the region and northern Cumbria, with some players making a round trip of over 100 miles to attend rehearsals pre-lockdown.
It followed another accolade when, in 2019, the band was selected by the Scottish Brass Band Association to travel to Montreaux in Switzerland to compete at the European Brass Band Championships, and finished in fifth place.
