Brass band prepares for national finals contest

The Brackley & District Brass Band will perform at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain on Sunday

A brass band is tuning up for a national competition this weekend.

Brackley & District Brass Band, from Northamptonshire, is set to perform at the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain at Cheltenham Racecourse on Sunday.

The contest will feature bands from across the country performing the same set test piece, Partita by Edward Gregson, which will be blind-judged by three adjudicators.

The band's conductor, Mark Probert, 42, said: "In the main, we're feeling quite confident. We played the piece through in a concert in the middle of July, so that was a good sort of yardstick to work out which bits were going well, and which bits we still need to work on."

Charlotte Pearce joined the group in June but is an experienced musician

The group have been in the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain before, but not since 2002.

It has around 30 musicians who rehearse at the Band Club in Brackley.

Charlotte Pearce, 34, who joined the group as third cornet in June after a 10-year absence from playing in a band, said: "It's nice, everybody getting together and doing what they love.

"From somebody coming in knowing nobody to being accepted that fast, I feel like that's quite special."

Veteran cornetist, Chris Kirkpatrick, 80, added: "The [band] are a good bunch of people, very friendly, and they work quite hard as well as play quite hard.

"That sense of togetherness is what keeps you coming back," he said.

The national finals will take place at Cheltenham Racecourse on 13 and 14 September.

Chris Kirkpatrick has played the cornet since 1959 and is the band's oldest member