Newbury music teacher’s triumph at Royal Albert Hall

Newbury music teacher’s triumph

“In May 2024, the Gloucester based Flowers Band wowed the Corn Exchange audience with a selection of traditional brass band classics, a fiendishly difficult test piece and some brilliantly adapted classical music,” says musician and @newburytoday reviewer Fiona Bennett. “Their visit was a huge hit and interestingly, one member of the band has a lovely connection with Newbury.”

Lauren Chinn, the band’s flugel horn player, is a brass instrumental teacher and travels to Newbury three times a week to teach pupils at St Bart’s, St Gabriel’s, Kennet School and Bucklebury Primary School.

On Saturday, October 5, Lauren travelled a little further along the M4 into Central London, where she took to the stage of the Royal Albert Hall to play at the British National Brass Band Championships with her fellow musicians from The Flowers Band.

They had come second at the British Open Brass Band Championships in September, beaten only by the astonishing Swiss ensemble Treize Étoiles and once again, they were up against the best of the best, including Black Dyke, Cory Band, Tredegar and Brighouse and Rastrick.

The three adjudicators were situated inside ‘the tent’ so were able to hear but not see the various bands, all of whom were given numbers 1 to 20 to retain their anonymity. Flowers were drawn 17th, played brilliantly and received a rapturous round of applause from the audience.

At 7pm, the three adjudicators mounted the stage and Lauren remembers hearing the top six bands’ names being read out in reverse order.

She said: “This was more nerve wracking than actually playing the test piece because there were other, worthy bands whose names might be at the top of the list but when we heard it was us, we all erupted with joy. Hugging, crying, cheering and kissing one another. We’d done it. We had been voted the best brass band in the country and what’s more exciting is that a band from the West of England has never won the ‘Nationals’ at the Albert Hall, so it was a very, very special feeling indeed.”

How lucky the brass playing students are in our market town, to have the likes of The Flowers Band’s very own flugel horn soloist teach them what she has mastered over the years and who knows, maybe Lauren is currently nurturing the champions of the future?

Congratulations Lauren and Flowers, a brilliant and well-deserved win.