MATKA(The Journey)
2016 Winning Compostition of the Ironbridge Brass Band Festival Young Composer Competition

Samuel Shelley who was introduced to brass bands by his grandad, Keith, and encouraged to write music by his friend Andy. Samuel plays percussion in CannockCitadel Salvation Army Band and is also a member of the Salvation Army’s West Midland Youth Band.
His composition 'Matka', is the music of a journey (matka is the Finnish word for journey). It begins slowly and then speeds up with the percussion section driving it along and keeping the tempo going. The composition has a flowing medley which at bar 24 is played as a solo by the euphonium before the flugel takes over for a while until the cornet section has about 16 bars to themselves with soprano cornet having the medley. It concludes with a loud bang from the bass drum to indicate that the journey is finished.

Samuel says this piece has inspired me in loads of different ways: sharing my own talent,
reaching my goals and developing my skills.
Inspired by composers like Paul Sharman, Kenneth Downie, Peter Graham and Dean Jones,Samuel has been writing music now for about 7 years. He continues ‘I want the listeners to find themselves through this journey and hope it takes them on a journey too’.