On Thursday 21st July, siteworks started for the creation of the new Bandstand and Park in the centre of Jedburgh, to commemorate the band's 150th anniversary. The initial work of levelling a large platform in the slightly sloping site was carried out by local firm JMS Harkin Constuction, free of charge. The foundations will shortly be dug and the base concreted, followed by construction of the Bandstand itself and the planting of a hedge around the new park area.

National Brass Week : 20-29 May 2005
 
Brass Alive 2005 was a great success for the band. We had an exhibition of band photos going back to 1860 in a shop window in Mercat Square. We had an almost full Town Hall for our concert featuring the brilliant cornet soloist, Russell Gray. We played to many busloads of tourists at Carter Bar. The Provost cut the inaugural sod for our new Bandstand. We played a Songs of Praise for an appreciative congregation in Kelso Old parish Church, in support of Christian Aid. Abbey Brass played to packed gymn halls in Parkside and Howdenburn Primary Schools, and 70 people attended their Open practice, with 21 young people signing up to join the Training Band.

Scottish Championships on 12 March 2005 in Caird Hall, Dundee

Playing the very difficult Variations for Brass Band by Vaughan Williams, we came 6th out of 12 in the Second Section in the 100th Scottish Championships to be held. This is a very creditable result for our first Scottish Championships in the Second Section. We had played much better in rehearsals, but that is often the case. Many thanks to Alan Fernie from all the players for his inspired musical direction. We're grateful to the Steeple Church for the use of their hall for a pre-contest practice (and thanks to Brenda for our welcome refreshments on arrival). Best wishes to former player Cyril McLaren (who started playing some 75 years ago and had to give up just a couple of years ago), who came with us for the day. He fell and was in pain all day, later found to be a cracked bone in his wrist. Nevertheless, he enjoyed attending the Scottish Championships and was pleased with the result for Jedforest. We had an enjoyable day, and we're looking forward to next year's championships.

Scottish Open Solo & Ensemble Championships 2005

The results of the Open Ensemble contest were : 1st Whitburn, 2nd Dalmellington, 3rd Jedforest The Jedforest quartet consisted of David Sutherland (cornet), John Kirk (cornet), Hamish McRitchie (tenor horn), Jo Stark (euphonium). Congratulations from the rest of the band! Congratulations also to cornet John Kirk (the only non-Championship soloist) who appeared creditably up the results list.

Scottish Junior Solo & Ensemble Championships 2005

Young Jedforest players faced stiff competition from some of the best young players in Scotland, as they preformed to a large audience at the Howden Park Centre in Livingstone on Saturday 5th February. Jedforest players competing were :
Junior Solos: (under 12) Rory McRitchie, Amy Sutherland and Rose Hadshar
Intermediate Solos: (12-15) Patrick Fraser, Robert Fraser
Youth Solos:(16-21) Stuart Black
Intermediate Quartet: Douglas McGovern, Leigh-Anne Stewart, Patrick Fraser, Robert Fraser

All of the young players deserve great credit for their performances, and many positive and encouraging comments were given by adjudicator Steven Mead.

Good results for Jedforest young players at Junior Solo/Ensemble Qualifiers
 
At the Borders qualifying heat for the Junior section of the Scottish Solo and Ensemble Championships, held on Sunday 23rd January in Howdenburn School, our soloists did well once again. In the Junior Solos, our players came 1st (Rose Hadshar), 2nd (Rory McRitchie), and 3rd (Amy Sutherland). In the Intermediate Ensembles, a Jedforest quartet was 1st (Douglas McGovern, Patrick Fraser, Robert Fraser, Leigh-Anne Stewart). In the Intermediate Solos, our players came 2nd (Patrick Fraser) and 4th (Robert Fraser). In the Youth Solos, our players came 3rd (Stuart Black) and 4th= (Mark Caswell) All the qualifiers will now go forward to compete at the Scottish Solo and Ensemble Championships on 5th February in Livingstone.

Donation to Tsunami Disaster Appeal

Jedforest made an early start towards support for the South-East Asia tragedy, by collecting for the Tsunami Disaster Appeal during our annual New Year's Day round the town march in Jedburgh. Despite the bad weather, many people came out of their houses to put money in our collecting boxes. The band made the collection up to £300 which was sent to Mercy Corps Scotland. A Mercy Corps team was among the first humanitarian workers to gain entry into Banda Aceh, an area of Indonesia that's been closed off to the world for years due to civil war, and which has very little communications and infrastructure, making relief efforts especially challenging. Mercy Corps efforts in Aceh are focusing on shelter, water purification, sanitation and delivery of essential items, as well as continually evaluating the greatest needs of survivors. At the time of our fund-raising on 1st January, there were 19 emergency staff deployed to affected areas of Indonesia, including Aceh, with more on the way since then.

 A Great New Year's Day March

This year saw our largest band for many years. At 33 players, we were augmented by 8 friends from the Manchester area, many of whom had visited us previously. Our thanks to Alan, Andre, Helen, Malcolm, Sarah, Simon, Simone, and Sonia for spending New Year with us. Haste ye back. En route, we collected for the Tsunami Disaster Appeal. Thanks to Pat and Jean for taking round the collecting boxes. At 10am, we started playing in cold but dry weather outside Andy Whitecross's house, marching along Howden Road and Howden Drive to our first stop at George Miller's, where we were served with a very welcome mulled wine. Then we marched along to Howdenburn Court and refreshments at David Lightbody's (with thanks to Joyce and Billy), then marched down to Alan Jack's for more refreshments (thanks to Nicola especially for the black pudding rolls). We then marched along Blair Avenue to play at The Bountrees, and then along Hartigge Road to David Sutherland's for soup and bacon and sausage rolls (thank you Beth). A march via the steep hill over Forthill took us to the main A68, where we formed up for the traditional "New Colonial" to Townfoot. A short march then took us from The Tavern to the British Legion inside which we played some marches and were served our usual free drink. Finally, we marched up High Street in heavy rain to the traditional "Our Director" via The Square to The Cannon and the Band Hall across the road, where we arrived about 2pm. The rest of the day saw celebrations continuing in The Cannon and various houses. Altogether, a very enjoyable and satisfying day.

Success for Jedforest at Borders Contest.

Both of the Jedforest bands enjoyed success in the Borders Entertainment Contest on Saturday 13th November with Jedforest Instrumental Band being the overall winner, and Abbey Brass (Jedforest) coming 2nd in the 4th Section. The town of Jedburgh welcomed 15 brass bands to compete in the Borders Entertainment Contest held at the Town Hall, with bands travelling from as far afield as Cumbria and Campbeltown. This year's contest saw Jedforest Instrumental competing in the 2nd Section for the second time following their promotion, and they were playing against strong competition from other 2nd Section bands St Ronan's Silver Band, Lochgelly Band and Flimby Saxhorn Silver Band (Cumbria). Jedforest's programme commenced with the theme from the TV series 'The Six Million Dollar Man' which is a difficult technical piece, followed by an Alan Fernie arrangement of 'Wild Mountain Thyme' featuring 16 year old star Flugel Horn player Stuart Black. The tempo of the programme then moved up a gear with a performance of the 'Ritual Fire Dance' by Manuel de Falla which was praised by the adjudicators for its faithful adherence to the final very hectic tempo. The following item 'When the Saints Go Marching In' unusually included the band in full voice singing the chorus. The culmination of Jedforest's programme was Elsa's Procession to the Minster (Wagner) which gradually built from a very quiet beginning to a tremendous climax, and received an enthusiastic and emotional response from the audience.
For the first time ever Jedforest had two bands in the contest, with the newly named Abbey Brass (Jedforest) comprising junior and adult players. Competing for the first time, its excellent performance placed it 2nd in the 4th Section. In a highly entertaining programme under the baton of bandmaster Cameron Mabon the band played the 'Theme from the Muppet Show' (featuring a mystery live muppet), a 'James Bond Theme Collection', the pop hit 'Handbags and Gladrags' and finished with the 'Thunderbirds March'. After a full day of performances the Town Hall was packed with bands and supporters, eagerly awaiting the results from the adjudicators. The Jedforest contingent raised the rafters when they were awarded best 2nd Section Band, and overall winner, being awarded the First Prize of the Scottish Borders Trophy, narrowly beating rivals St Ronan's Silver Band who took the Entertainment Prize. Abbey Brass (Jedforest) were also delighted to secure a creditable 2nd place (out of 4 competing bands) in the 4th Section, and were placed 4th in the Entertainment Section rankings.
Jedforest Instrumental would like to thank the townspeople and businesses in Jedburgh for their support in hosting this event, and also a special thank you to Alan Fernie (Musical Director), and Cameron Mabon (Bandmaster) for their hard work and enthusiasm which has well and truly given Jedburgh a brass band organisation to be proud of.

In the 2nd Section! (November 2004)

For the first time in its 150 year history, J I B are now in the 2nd Section. Fittingly, promotion was achieved in the month the band was formed in November 1854.

Jedforest is Scottish 3rd Section "Band of the Year" (November 2004)

At a ceremony at the Scottish Open on Sunday 28th November in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, the Band of the Year banner was presented by Alan McLaren, President of the Scottish Brass Band Association, to Alan Fernie and Cameron Mabon on behalf of the band. The award was made on the basis of contest results over the past 12 months, J I B having led the rankings from the start of the year and emerging a clear winner. Jedforest soloists sweep the boards at Slow Melody Competition (October 2004) At the Borders Slow Melody Competition held in Selkirk on Sunday 3rd October, our soloists won 12 places, including the Open Quartet (1st), the under 10s (1st, 2nd, 3rd), the 10-12s (1st, 2nd, 3rd), the 12-14's (1st, 2nd, 3rd), the 14-18s (2nd) and the Open Solo (3rd). Jedforest comes 10th out of 19 bands at British Championships in Harrogate (September 2004).  

Bands successful at Brass in the Park (August 2004)

Jedforest Instrumental Band took the Brass in the Park brass band contest by storm this weekend, winning no less than four trophies in what has become one of Scotland's premier and best attended Brass Band Contests. The 25 strong Jedforest Junior Band (Aged 9-16 years) overcame strong competition from four other junior bands to win the Development Section for the second year in a row. The Junior Band members really put on a great show, under the baton of their conductor Cameron Mabon. They performed four pieces, a 'James Bond Theme Collection', 'The Lion King', 'Tequila' and the theme from 'Scooby Doo'! The programme featured some fine solo playing by Leigh-Anne Stewart (Tenor Horn), Robert Fraser (Trombone), and Claire Younger (Solo Cornet). The Senior Band had their most successful result to date at Brass in the Park, being placed 3rd overall out of the twenty bands competing. They also won best 3rd Section Band for the second year in a row. Jedforest, conducted by Musical Director Alan Fernie, opened with the contest match 'The Cossack' by William Rimmer, followed by an arrangement of the hymn 'Love Unknown'. The final part of Jedforest's programme featured star Soprano Cornet player David Lightbody, playing Phillip Sparkes' 'Flowerdale', which received tremendous applause from the audience, and won David the title of Best Senior Soloist for the 2nd time in three years!