The Cardiff County and Vale of Glamorgan Youth Wind Band has been presented with a platinum award for their performance at the finals of the National Concert Band Festival in Glasgow.
Performing “Fanfare for St Cecilia” by Philip Sparke and the epic work, “Legends of the Bear” by Welsh composer, Gareth Wood at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the young musicians were praised by judges for their precision, stamina and musical ability.
The two adjudicators, international percussion virtuoso and head of percussion at the Royal Northern College of Music, Simone Rebello and Bryan Allen, head of the Wind and Brass department at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama were unanimous in their praise for the young Cardiff players noting that the technical challenges of the music were met with consummate expertise and the musical integrity of the work was performed with assurety and maturity in front of a full audience in the main concert hall.
The award follows the band’s highly successful trip to New York in Spring 2010, performing in Carnegie Hall and Syossett, Long Island and builds on their success at the National Concert Band Festival in 2009 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff when they earned three gold awards.
The platinum award has been introduced since then and has very strict criteria of adjudication. Musical Director, Sean O’Neill was extremely pleased that the band’s hard work, dedication and development with new players had paid off with such an outstanding performance.
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “This is fantastic news about the success for the Youth Wind Band. The praise they have earned and the winning of the Platinum award shows the high esteem with which the young players are regarded as well as their considerable professionalism and talent.”
