The panel of judges for BandComposition.Com 2013 are pleased to announce the results of this years competition as follows :
The winner of the Major Work is : CONCERTO for BRASS BAND no.1 by Marcus Venables
The winner of the five minute Light Concert Work is : JOURNEY TO THE SKIES by Marcus Venables
Marcus Venables wins a cash prize of £500.00 as the winner of the 12–minute category, and £250 as winner of the 5–minute category. Additionally, the winning work(s) will be published by Just Music, given a public performance by one of the UK's top Brass Bands and recorded on CD. This event has been jointly sponsored by The Scottish Brass Band Association and Just Music.
In its first year, BandComposition.Com has proved to be a truly international brass band composition competition, with approximately forty entries received from around the world including Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. The judges commented that generally speaking, the entries were of a high standard with many different compositional styles on offer and some showing real imagination. In the Major Work category special mention is given to THE FLOOD by Dale Vail ( New Zealand), KIDNAPPED by Chris Brown (Scotland) and ZERO by our youngest composer Daniel Hall from England. These works although not selected as the winning composition, had real imagination and merit, and the judges would encourage all the composers who entered this years competition to continue to develop their compositional styles in the future.
The two winning works by Marcus Venables were of an exceptionally high standard, and will be published by Just Music. Concerto for Brass Band No.1 by Marcus is set to become a core piece of the brass band repertoire, and hopefully will be set as a Championship Section test piece in the near future. The compositional style of this work will make it not just a challenge for top bands, but a real favourite among bands and audiences alike - a rare achievement ! Marcus's "Journey to the Skies" is a fabulous concert opener and will be available from Just Music shortly.
It has been decided that BandComposition.Com will be a bi - annual competion for composers of brass band music, alternating with a wind band competition. So in 2014 entries will be invited from composers of Wind Band / Concert Band music, and in 2015 the competition will revert to a brass band competition. Full details of both these competitions will be announced on this website in September this year.
On behalf of the judging panel : Andrew Duncan, Bruce Fraser, Nigel Boddice MBE and Nigel Durno we would like thank all entrants for submitting works for consideration this year and to the Scottish Brass Band Association for their co–operation in presenting this very worthwhile venture in promoting new music. All media which were submitted will be returned to composers during the first week in August.
Nigel Durno
Chairman of BC.Com panel
Wednesday 17th. July 2013