Andrew's work Resilience has been selected as one of four finalists in the inaugural River City Brass Band Composer Contest. The contest attracted 67 entries from around the world, from as far afield as Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, New Zealand, Turkey, the UK and the USA.
The other finalists are Marcus Venables, Jared McCunnie and Katerina Horka. Each of the pieces will be played at River City's upcoming concerts, with the band and audience voting for the winner in May. The brief for the competition was to write a piece to finish a concert of between 3 and 10 minutes. The panel of judges included Dr. Martin Ellerby, Dr. Peter Graham, Dr. James Gourlay, Jeff Nicodemus, and Abby Langhorst.
Andrew's piece Resilience was composed especially for the competition, and celebrates the band’s short but rich history, with a particular focus on the determination it has shown, like so many bands around the world, to continue its tradition of musical excellence despite the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic that led to an extended hiatus in music making.
