The North American Brass Band  Association sponsors an annual championship contest for brass bands. Contesting has been part of the brass band movement for nearly 150 years and the NEBB has had the opportunity to go to three of the NABBA contests - 2001 in Washington, D.C.; 2003 in Little Rock, Arkansas; and 2004 in Charleston, West Virginia. Going to these contests has been a huge part of the growth of the NEBB. For us, the important thing about attending such an event is the interaction we all have with other bands and players as we learn more about our  playing in the process. Also, we work hard to present our 30 minute contest program at the highest level we can, burnishing all of the details of our music to as fine a point as we can make.
This hard work has turned out to be a very enjoyable process for the band. We arranged a mid winter clinic with composer Steve Bulla which was extremely fun and helpful for all of us. This year, the NEBB was thrilled to be rewarded with the banner and trophy for FIRST PLACE in the "Challenge"  section of the NABBA XXII Championship. Our competition performance was solid, sentitive, together and the judges, audience and band members all agreed that we were "right on!"
The band's winning program was test piece Northern Landscapes (Peter Graham), Images for Brass (Steve Bulla) and Fortress (William Gordon).
In addition to the band competion on Saturday, NEBB members gave great performances in the Friday solo and ensemble NABBA competions. Brad Kerns won 2nd place in the adult low brass technical solo competition on trombone, Eb bass player Mark Fabulich won 2nd place in the adult low brass slow melody solo competition, and the NEBB percussion section - Dora Kastanas, Rick Castillo and Stephen Lee placed 3rd in the adult percussion ensemble competition. Also performing well were Stephanie Watts on cornert (adult high brass slow melody), Isabel Tappan on tenor horn (adult low brass slow melody) and Stephanie and Isabel were joined by Elizabeth Jewell (cornet), Leif Reslow (euphonium), Al Stickland (trombone) and Steve Noel (BBb bass) in the NEBB sextet (adult brass ensemble).
All in all, NEBB had a lot to be proud of as we returned home from Charleston!

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