During the Easter holidays, Big Band 1 travelled up to Manchester to take part in the National Concert Band Festival Final, held at the Royal Northern College of Music.
During the regional round, all three Trinity bands who performed were awarded Platinum, the highest possible prize. Last year the Symphonic Wind Orchestra had been awarded Platinum at both regional and national stages, so expectations were high!
Big Band 1 did not disappoint and came away with their second Platinum prize. Both adjudicators gave extremely positive feedback on the band’s performance with an off-the-record comment from one stating that the band ‘stole the show’!
It was a fantastic weekend of music, with our students sharing the stage with 32 other wind and big bands from across the UK, as well as the Big Band of the Royal Marines.
Fifth Year student Gabriel said, “I thought it was a great experience to perform at a venue that was new to us, especially one so far away in Manchester, as overcoming the challenges of playing in a different acoustic environment as well as being in front of a judge panel helped me and the rest of the band learn a lot about performing in a more professional setting. It was also useful to exit the Trinity circle and listen to other musicians from around the country as I found myself learning from them – how they played, and how they presented themselves on stage. Overall, winning Platinum was a great achievement, and I am happy to be a part of the band when we had this opportunity, I hope to do similar things like this in the future.”
Lower Sixth student Olivia has been playing the bass for two years, and joined Big Band 1 this year when she joined Trinity. She says, “The NCBF was a fun journey and getting to see the Marines play was really interesting as they were very good. BB1 has been fun because of all the performance opportunities there are, which helps me improve, and it is a very high standard.”
Last Saturday, the band were back in Croydon playing to a packed house at the Oval Tavern. In Head of Rock, Pop and Jazz Mr Pettitt’s words, ‘they have never sounded better!’
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