Sunday 26 October
Twin Towns Clubs and Resorts, Coolangatta

Test piece:
Music for Battle Creek, Philip Sparke

Adjudicators:
Steve Bastable, Barrie Gott, Kenneth Young

Results:
2008 Yamaha Australasian Open Championship

1. Woolston Brass
2. Brisbane Excelsior
3. St Mary's Band Club
4. Warringah Concert Brass

Results:
2008 York Australasian Entertainment Championship

1. Woolston Brass
2. Warringah Concert Brass
3. Brisbane Excelsior
4. Footscray Yarraville

Best Brass Soloist: Paula Russell, Brisbane Excelsior

Best Non-brass Soloist: Anthony Brahe, Warringah

Woolston Brass

4barsrest provided full coverage of the competition http://www.4barsrest.com/default.asp?l=du

themusicpage.com streamed the event live over the world wide web http://www.themusicpage.com

With a stunning performance the Black Dyke Band convinced the adjudicators of the Finals of the National Brass Band Championships at Royal Albert Hall, London last Saturday.

During the final chord already there was thunderous applause and a standing ovation for the Black Dyke Band. Also the musicians were very pleased with their performance. Nicholas Childs, Director of Music, commented “It is a tremendous win, when the audience started to applaud and even erupt before the band finishes, you
know we had created a special performance.”

Of course it was a great pleasure when at the end of the award ceremony the Black Dyke Band was placed as the winner.

The first musician on stage was Richard Marshal, Principal Cornet of the Black Dyke and York performing artist. He was really delighted to emerge victorious and win the title for the first time: "Winning my first National Finals is a great experience. The performance given by Black Dyke and Nicholas Childs was full of commitment and this was all due to dedication and hard work from all involved. Concertino for Band by Kenneth Downie was a difficult test for all the bands and proved to be a positive choice with a lot of players. The result is a great boost for the band and this will continue to push our consistent standard into 2009".

The pleasure was also with York, the main sponsor of the “Nationals”. Markus Sailer, responsibly for the York marketing said: “We are overjoyed to be allowed to present the trophy to the Black Dyke Band today. For almost two years now, we may cooperate with these brilliant musicians. Numerous of suggestions from this Band already flowed into our instruments. We really look forward to further cooperation and would like to express our congratulations to Nicholas Childs and his Band.”

David Thornton, York performing artist and Principal Euphonium of the Black Dyke had expressed a very good feeling after the performance at a discussion in the York VIP box. A few hours later, he could hold the trophy in its hands: "It is always fantastic to win a contest, but at the Albert Hall it is something extra special - the
history and atmosphere make winning a dream come true! Although we were ecstatic about our performance, there are many fantastic bands at the Nationals capable of giving fantastic performances, so the results ceremony was as 'nail-biting' as ever!"

This year York is again the principal partner of the British Brass Band Championship.

Next Saturday the contest for the best 20 bands of the country takes place at the Royal Albert Hall in London. At their Website York raffled 2 times 2 tickets for the York VIP Box.

From several hundred submissions the lucky winners are Siebrand Bootsma from the Netherlands and Keith Hender from England.

York congratulates the winners and is happy to greet them this Saturday at the York YIP box at the Royal Albert Hall.

Markus Sailer from York says: “We are excited to be able to accompany again this year´s unique event as partner of Kapital Promotions. Surely the get-together with York´s top artists David Childs, Richard Marshall, Owen Farr, Joseph Cook and David Thornton will make this day an unforgettable experience for the VIP guests.”