BBE has announced the order of play, panel of adjudicators, and comperes who will be participating at the National Youth Brass Band Championships, known as Youth Champs, at Dean Close School on Saturday 23 March 2024. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
Participating Bands
The event will see 38 youth bands perform across three sections - the Besson Prodige Showcase Section, the Yamaha Performance Section, and the World of Brass Championship Section. This number matches the record number of bands who participated at Youth Champs 2023 in Stockport.
Jess Wilson, BBE’s Projects Officer, commented: “BBE couldn’t be more pleased with the participation level seen in our first time moving Youth Champs to the south of the UK. Moving the event around the country allows more scope for bands who have never participated at the event before to do so, as seen by the nine bands who have entered Youth Champs for the first time in 2024.”
Adjudication Panel
After a successful trial in 2023, potential adjudicators were asked to submit an application for judging positions at the event, in order to provide a fair and balanced application process. After receiving a number of applications from highly qualified applicants from across the banding world, six individuals have been selected to adjudicate the 2024 event.
BBE’s CEO, Kenny Crookston, commented: “We are really pleased with the application process, which really widened the pool of people we were able to consider as adjudicators. We assessed candidates based on their track record, experience in musical assessment and written applications and CV against the event roles person specification. Many of the candidates were suitable for the role and we had to make difficult choices to find the best combination to provide a wide range of skills and experience.”
The adjudication panel is as follows:
Besson Prodige Showcase Section: James Holt and Sheila Allen
Yamaha Performance Section: Emily Evans and Gavin Saynor
World of Brass Championship Section: Mike Cavanagh and Helen Varley
Meet your hosts
Alex Humphreys and David Hayward return as your voice of Youth Champs for a consecutive year. The dynamic duo will announce the bands to stage across the two halls, as well as leading the presentation ceremonies.
Alex may be well known as a children’s television presenter and BBC Journalist, but banders will recognise her as a member of the City of Cardiff Band, Melingriffith or the Symphonic Brass Wales ‘On Tour’ Group.
David Hayward has spent a lifetime in banding and has experienced banding at all levels, both as a player and conductor, and latterly as a compère at local, regional and national competitions.
Youth Champs 2024 schedule
Besson Prodige Showcase Section
Adjudicators: James Holt and Sheila Allen
Venue: Hall 1
Presentation ceremony: 12:15
|
Order of play |
Band |
Performance Time |
|
1 |
Churchdown Village Junior School |
09:00 |
|
2 |
Forest of Dean Youth Band |
09:25 |
|
3 |
Wantage Beginner Band |
09:50 |
|
4 |
MK Young Brass Hoppers |
10:15 |
|
5 |
Cherry Tree Primary School |
10:40 |
|
6 |
Haberdashers Aske's Boys Prep School Brass Band |
11:05 |
|
7 |
Lions Debut Band |
11:30 |
|
8 |
St Helens Debut Band |
11:55 |
Yamaha Performance Section
Adjudicators: Emily Evans and Gavin Saynor
Venue: Hall 2
Presentation ceremony: c. 18:45
|
Order of play |
Band |
Performance Time |
|
1 |
Enderby Youth Band |
11:00 |
|
2 |
Egham Youth Band |
11:25 |
|
3 |
Wantage Youth Brass |
11:50 |
|
4 |
Barnet Youth Brass Band |
12:15 |
|
5 |
Delph Youth Band |
12:40 |
|
6 |
Band Pres Ieuenctid Ceredigion |
13:05 |
|
7 |
Tewit Youth Intermediate Band |
13:40 |
|
8 |
Elland Silver Training Band |
14:05 |
|
9 |
Macclesfield Youth Brass Band, Junior Band |
14:30 |
|
10 |
Astley Youth Band |
14:55 |
|
11 |
Pembrokeshire Music Service Youth Brass Band |
15:20 |
|
12 |
St Helens Youth Band |
15:45 |
|
13 |
Lions Academy Band |
16:20 |
|
14 |
St Austell Youth Band |
16:45 |
|
15 |
Shepherd Group Youth Band |
17:10 |
|
16 |
Birmingham Schools' Training Brass Band |
17:35 |
|
17 |
Firth Park Academy |
18:00 |
World of Brass Championship Section
Adjudicators: Mike Cavanagh and Helen Varley
Venue: Hall 1
Presentation ceremony: c. 20:15
|
Order of play |
Band |
Performance Time |
|
1 |
Cardiff County & Vale of Glamorgan Youth Brass Band |
13:15 |
|
2 |
Northamptonshire County Youth Brass Band |
13:45 |
|
3 |
Amersham Youth Band |
14:15 |
|
4 |
Oldham Music Centre Youth Brass Band |
14:45 |
|
5 |
Wardle Academy Youth Band |
15:15 |
|
6 |
Tewit Youth Senior Band |
15:45 |
|
7 |
Elland Youth Band |
16:15 |
|
8 |
Lancashire Youth Brass Band |
17:00 |
|
9 |
Macclesfield Youth Brass Band |
17:30 |
|
10 |
Lions Youth Brass |
18:00 |
|
11 |
South Wales Youth Brass Band |
18:30 |
|
12 |
Youth Brass 2000 |
19:00 |
|
13 |
Birmingham Schools' Brass Band |
19:30 |
Purchase your tickets now!
Tickets for the Youth Champs can be purchased via our website.
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Advance tickets: Adults: £13, Children: £5, u5: Free
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Day tickets: Adults: £16, Children: £8, u5: Free
**Please note that our booking system will ask if you are a member of a band. If you are not, please type n/a in this field. The system will also ask for you to input a name and email address for each ticket. You will be able to repeat your own email address for any additional tickets for the purpose of completing the form.