The Argyll Youth Brass Band – based in Lochgilphead and in the dedicated charge of Darren Tarn and other music instructors in this town – has made its formal debut in no small way. On Sunday last, it appeared at Perth Royal Concert Hall in the Scottish Youth Brass Band Championships, the biggest of such events in the world.
They make a good sound – as you can heart from this You Tube clip of them taking on the James Bond theme in what looks like the headquarters of Argyll and Bute Council ag Kipomory in Lochgilphead. The Council is supportive of this development.
The 2012 championships had forty five your Scottish bands competing. In 2007 there were seven entrants.
These figures demonstrate the huge rise in popularity of brass bands, resulting from a Scottish Government initiative that has seen no fewer than 55 new bands establish themselves over the period.
Quote of the week has to be Culture Secretary. Fiona Hyslop’s remark to the audience at the championships: ‘Scotland believes in brass.’
