Paula Russell is enjoying the winning feeling before heading back to Oz.

Desford Colliery Band flew Paula from Australia to the UK to play Principal Cornet for them when three of the bands in house principal cornets were unavailable for this contest.

4BRDU spoke briefly with Paula, in the wee hours of Monday morning, following Desford's win at the Masters yesterday.

Paula said: "I am pleasantly surprised with the win, and have very much appreciated the opportunity to come back 'home' to play with Desford."

"The band worked very hard in its preparation, with a strong focus on the stylistic aspect of the work, which seemed to please the adjudicators."

Pride of place next to Paula on the plane ride home will be the cup presented to her as the Principal Cornet for the winning band.

Paula has a couple of days to catch up on some well earned rest before heading to Leicester to record a solo with Desford, "My Love is like a Red Red Rose", as part of a segment for the BBC's "Listen to the Band".

Brisbane Excelsior is very much looking forward to Paula's return later in the week, as it begins its preparation for the New Zealand Championships

The Band Association of New South Wales have released details of the entries for the upcoming State Solo and Ensemble Championships.

The New South Wales State solo and ensemble championships, to be held on the weekend of 21 & 22 June at the Bankstown Grammar School, Georges Avenue, Georges Hall, have attracted a huge number of entries this year.

Over 330 entries have been received - more than 80 in the Open events, and an encouraging 250 in the Junior events.

The Junior events and Open Percussion will be held on Saturday 21 June while the rest of the Open events will take place on Sunday 22 June.

Adjudicators for the weekend include Ron Prussing, Andrew Snell, Major Andrea Davey, Conrad Curry, Anthony Brahe, James Brice, and Matthew Pankhurst.

More information can be found on the website of the Band Association of New South Wales www.bandnsw.com

‘The Trusts’ Waitakere Brass has donated around 50 original sets of band music to Waratah Brass Band.

Last June’s floods were devastating for Waratah, with the band losing its entire library of music and incurring thousands of dollars of damage to equipment.

Waratah Band president and Tuba player Grahame Scott visited New Zealand last week and took the opportunity to attend a Waitakere rehearsal, where the music was officially gifted to the band.

Waitakere Brass’ Musical Director Steven Booth played with Waratah at the Australian National Championships in Brisbane last month and commented: “The band has overcome a lot in the past few months with the floods destroying their bandroom, instruments, music and whole history.  Hopefully this music can go a little way to rebuilding the band’s library".