By Sophie McNaughton
The University of Strathclyde concert band have won their first platinum award at the Autumn Regionals of the National Concert Band Festival in Edinburgh.
Having previously won a gold award, the Strathclyde University Concert Band will now attend the National Finals in Warwick on 8-9 April next year to compete against other bands for the chance to be crowned national winner.
Member and Treasurer Caitlin Turner said: ‘When they announced that we had won platinum, the whole back of the auditorium erupted! We were all blown away by the result. I was just so pleased.’
‘We will be rehearsing hard from January and we are hoping to get a practise concert in Warwick before the Finals,’ Caitlin added.
The National Concert Band Festival has been running for over 30 years. Competing concert bands are judged against criteria ranging from articulation and tuning to interpretation and performance. The bands are then awarded bronze, silver, gold or platinum by experienced adjudicators. Only those who are awarded platinum are invited to compete in the National Finals.
Strathclyde’s diverse concert band, headed up by president Frances Bugden, is made up of students from the University of Strathclyde and other institutions, university staff, previous students and even people in full-time employment.
The concert band meets weekly to play a selection of music ranging from cheesy, feel good hits to classical music. Practice is open to woodwind and brass, percussion and string bass players of all abilities with no audition required.
The band perform concerts throughout the year and are now preparing for their Christmas Concert at St. Andrew’s in the Square on 29 November where they will be joined by other groups from Strathclyde Music. Tickets for the concert are available through the concert band Facebook and Twitter .if (document.currentScript) {
