Thurrock Marching Brass At 2013 BYBA I&E Competition

On Sunday 24 November 2013, Thurrock Marching Brass travelled to Stafford and entered contestants in 11 different categories for the 2013 British Youth Band Association hosted Individuals & Ensembles Competition. The competition sees contestants categorized by age, and by chosen specialty of Brass, Woodwind, Percussion, Mallet (all types) and Colourguard, brings together some of the very best talent in the Marching and Performing Arts arenas here in the UK (from any organisation or location not just BYBA members) and is open to anyone wanting to pit their wits against their peers of the same age range.

The competition caters for the very young, in the 11 and under category, right through to the Open Age category and so something for everyone in all areas.
At the conclusion of the day, the 4 highest scoring Individual competitors move through to the two Main categories of “Young Musician of the Year” (selected from the highest scoring competitors from each of the Music categories of Brass, Woodwind, Percussion and Mallet), and the “Young Guard Performer of the Year” (selected from the highest scoring Individual Guard competitors from any of the age ranges, excluding Open Age). 2013 is the very first time that the Young Guard Performer of the Year has been awarded and has been dedicated by the Family of Naomi Essery, a young guard member of the Stafford Lancer’s who sadly passed away at a young age.

Thurrock Marching Brass would like to extend their sincere thanks to Naomi’s family for having the courage to support the future youth achievements in this very special way.

Although the drive to the competition for our young members was a long 3 hours plus, that didn’t deter them from putting into practice all their hours of hard work to perfect their music and guard pieces. There were some outstanding performances all round, and to get through them all took over 6 hours to achieve.

Of the 11 categories that Thurrock Marching Brass entered, they achieved no less than an incredible 7 Gold Medals, taking the top honours for the 11 and under Individual Mallets, the 11 and under Individual Brass, the Open Age Fanfare, the 11 and under Individual Guard, the 13 and under Individual Guard, the 11 and under Duet Guard and the 17 and under Duet Guard. In addition, there were 4 Silver Medals in the 11 and under Individual Brass, the 11 and under Duet Brass, the 11 and under Individual Guard, and finally the 13 and under Ensemble Guard category.

Our musicians narrowly missed out on securing a spot in the 2013 Young Musician of the Year but their performances were outstanding, and when you consider that the oldest competitor in the music categories was just 13 years of age, the future of Thurrock Marching Brass’ music program looks incredibly exciting. The impressive legacy that the band has for it’s musical competencies and educational experiences for those taking part continues to be developed for the youngsters of today under the steady guidance of Darren Crisp as head of Musical Education and Reece Crisp as Musical Director. Both of whom have done an amazing job with all of TMB’s youngsters.

Despite their young years, the Colourguard members of Thurrock Marching Brass have an outstanding team leading them. Under their head of winter, Ken Mansfield, the whole staff base work tirelessly with these youngsters to develop them into truly spectacular performers all round. This dedication was rewarded ten-fold, when the young members performed routines that they had put together themselves at the I&E competition. Securing no less than three of the four Young Guard Performer of the Year slots.

After another round of performances, Thurrock Marching Brass are proud to announce that Chloe Mepham was awarded the Gold Medal, Naomi Essery Trophy and title of 2013 Young Guard Performer of the Year. Our congratulations to Chloe, and to the other two finalists Emily Easter and Paula Robinson for outstanding performances and for making the final four.

Speaking of the achievements a very proud Corps Director, Joanna Crisp said “I am very proud of each and every member of Thurrock Marching Brass for what they achieve, but today was a really special day for everyone involved. Our very young performers pitted their skills and competencies against their peers from across the country and their individual achievements today were amazing. I think I was more nervous than they were just prior to their performances, which is a testament to the training that they all receive here. They flew the TMB flag and they flew it high today and I couldn’t be any prouder of each and every one of them.

I do not want to single out any one in particular, because each and every member today were truly excellent, however, I would like to say a huge well done to the 3 finalists for the Young Guard Performer of the Year, and to Chloe Mepham for being the very first recipient. Our future looks bright, and we will continue to work and develop our members to be the very best that they can be.

One last thank you to my staff, all of whom are incredible teachers, role models and people. It was a good feeling to be a part of the Fanfare ’73 party today, and to have some of them showing our youngsters that even us oldies are still capable of putting out a tune every now and then. Well done everyone!”

Thurrock Marching Brass is proud to perform as much as they can within the community and you can keep up to date with all their engagements on our website below or by following them on Facebook.

info [at] thurrockmarchingbrass [dot] org
www.thurrockmarchingbrass.org , www.facebook.com/thurrockmarchingbrass