The winner of the Oxfordshire & District Brass Band Association Centenary Composition Competition was announced at the recent Entertainment Contest held in Woodstock.
The composition competition was judged by Phillip Littlemore, Alan Fernie and Gavin Somerset.
Two prizes were offered, one for composers aged under 25 and one for over 25's. Unfortunately, the judges felt unable to award a prize in the Under 25 section as they felt that whilst the entries received were worthy compositions they did not meet the stated brief of being aimed at 3rd and 4th section graded bands. They offered the advice that rather than relying on computer playback the composers should take their works to the standard of bands that they are writing for.
From the entries received in the Over 25 category the judges selected "Straits of Peace" by Welsh composer Peter Jones as the winner. Peter wins £500 and his piece will be premiered at a Centenary concert to be organised by the ODBBA during the Centenary Year of 2023. His work will be issued to all ODBBA member bands for their use throughout 2023.
The piece is currently undergoing some revisions suggested by the judges prior to becoming available to the bands in the New Year.
Peter Jones is a Welshman living in Anglesey, North Wales – and is a former winner at the National Eisteddfod of Wales (the largest cultural festival in Europe) as an instrumentalist, soloist, conductor and composer.
A multi prize-winning soloist as a teenager, Peter was the Principal Trombone in several top youth orchestras (including the forerunner of what is now the European Community Youth Orchestra), and played and recorded with numerous brass bands, chamber ensembles, wind bands, dance bands, pit orchestras and session groups. He became a professional orchestral player but very quickly decided he would change career.
He became a Naval Officer, and reached the rank of Captain (aged 25) after seeing service all around the globe. Indeed, in 2009, Peter was the subject of a press campaign to be awarded the George Cross for his bravery in the Falkland Islands as he was the first, in extreme weather conditions, and carrying a towrope, to jump aboard a wildly-lurching runaway barge full with around 35 tons of highly unstable explosives and munitions that was about to strike a troop ship with over 2000 personnel on board. Eventually, with Peter’s help, the barge was taken under tow to safety; eventually being blown-up, in a huge explosion, miles away from the islands.
Several MPs took a deep interest in the affair, and supported fully the campaign after having been given all the details of the citation by a pressure group. However, the medal was not awarded due to a technicality – the nomination being over the ten-year deadline since the incident.
After a change of career to become a teacher of mathematics and sport, Peter eventually returned to music and became a composer, with numerous pieces played by groups around the world. As a player, he has appeared with some of the finest and best-known ensembles in the world, including the World, European and British champion brass bands.
Qualified for MENSA since his early teenage days, he has had a short story published and read out on radio, has written for TV and magazines, was an athlete and player at representative level in several sports, and was a full karate international.
Now happily retired and living with his wife, three cats and a boisterous puppy in Anglesey, Peter now devotes his life to full time composition – working from his purpose-built studio at the back of their Georgian town house in Menai Bridge. His wife, Angela, an NHS nurse and former clarinet player, is his finest critic and somehow manages to keep his feet on the ground.
