A massive congratulations to our fabulous Principal Euphonium player Anthony R Smith for winning the Over 18s Slow Melody category of the Foden's Band Solo and Ensemble Contest! Check out his superb performance of Tom Davoren's 'A Simple Gift'.

​"The Foden's Solo Contest was originally launched in 2010 and has grown to become the largest event of its kind in the UK. Due to Covid, the band's 10th-anniversary event was moved online. Seventy entries were received across four different categories being viewed over 140,000 times on the band's Facebook page.  Due to the number of entries the band used six of its members to shortlist each section to five finalists.

Each finalist has been recorded 'live' with a band member present on Zoom to ensure that only one take was recorded. The various videos have been forwarded to the panel of adjudicators comprising Michael Fowles, Mark Wilkinson, Jonny Bates, Gary Curtin, John Barber, and Mark Landon who have been joined by Bramwell Tovey, Simone Rebello, Russell Gray, and David Childs. A panel member gave an overview of each section before the results are announced at the end of the programme. Due to the extremely high standard of performance, the adjudicating panel has had a difficult task in choosing the various prize winners."

The stream commenced at 7pm on Friday 30th October with the broadcast being hosted by Iwan Fox. View the contest on catch up below.