Alongside composers’ Dr Peter Meechan and Professor Peter Graham, I judged the Salford/BASBWE Composition Contest Final. There were three finalists Franner Otter, Stephen Richardson and Karl Whelan. Each composer had their composition performed by the Central Band of the Royal Air Force under the direction of Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs in front of a live audience in the Maxwell Hall at the University of Salford. The works were `Legacy Dreams’ Stephen Richardson, `The Olympic Creed’ Karl Whelan and `The Olympic Flame’ by Franner Otter. Each of the pieces showed great skill and would fit easily in to any concert and would be suitable for performance by amateur wind orchestras. The winner of the competition was Franner Otter with her stirring overture  `The Olympic Flame’. Other premieres in the concert were `Rhapsody in Lower Case’ by Paul Hart and `Hymn to Eternal Light’ by Paul Mealor. The band also performed my short overture `Their Finest Hour’.