The City of Chester Brass Band competed against some of the best of brass in the North West at the regional championships

Mar 17 2011 by Rachel Flint, Chester Chronicle

AFTER months of gruelling rehearsals and practising to perfection the City of Chester Brass Band took to the stage to compete against some of the best brass bands in the North West.

Emotions ran high as hundreds of band members battled it out at the annual North West Area Championships in Blackpool on Sunday.

But for the 25 Chester musicians walking onto the stage at the Winter Gardens, it was an especially emotional experience, as the piece they were playing was composed by a friend and former conductor who died almost 20 years ago.

John Golland, renowned for his compositions for brass bands, led the band on a tour across Switzerland in 1982.

And with players ranging from as young as eight up to 80 years old, some of the players remember the composer conducting the band for almost four years before moving on to Sandbach-based Foden’s brass band.

Current conductor, Phil Mottershead played principal cornet during the Switzerland tour, while bass player Les Platt joined the band under the composer and loved it so much that he is still playing today.

Sixty two-year-old Les, from Tarporley, talked of their performance of Golland’s Prelude, Song and Dance, on Sunday, when they came eighth out of 21 bands, seven places higher than last year.

“John conducted the band for about five years, I can remember the concert in the town hall where he had written a concerto for piano and brass band, and he played the piano along with us,” said Les.

“We were not drawn until the afternoon, so we were all trying to keep our instruments warm – it was a long waiting time.

“We thought we had done quite well but the adjudicator did find a few slips in intonation and tuning. But the band really enjoyed the experience, and I think we will try to do more contests in the future.”

The band, formerly known as the Blue Coat Band, narrowly missed a spot at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, after failing to qualify on Sunday.

Meanwhile, championship band Foden’s finished top of the league, and were named the North West Area Champions for the sixth year running.