Exodus wins again!

At Sunday’s orchestra final of the competition, produced by Pan Trinbago and staged at the world famous Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York, Exodus beat out fierce competition from former title holder TCL Group Skiffle Bunch Steel Orchestra to clinch its second consecutive title by a three-point margin. Exodus also became the first local band to win the title on foreign soil.

Playing the test piece "Pan In A Minor," arranged by Pelham Goddard and the tune-of-choice "Semiramide," composed by Gioacchino Rossini and arranged for the band by Jesus Acosta-Ruiz and Pat Bishop, Exodus’ musical package won favour with the three-member adjudication panel, setting the band apart from the field of contestants.

Exodus earned a total of 529 points and went on to win category awards for Best Test Piece and Best Tune of Choice. The latter prize was shared with Skiffle Bunch. Skiffle Bunch played "Echoes of War" composed by Len "Boogsie" Sharpe and the test piece arranged by Liam Teague to score 526 points.

Apart from taking the US $40,000 first prize, Exodus’s feat on this occasion was extra special this time around having won the title on foreign soil. Dr Ann Marion Osborne (TT), Eugene Novotney and Dr Larry Snider from the USA were the Festival judges, with Merle Albino De Coteau serving as an alternate.

Seven orchestras, including Exodus and Skiffle Bunch, vied for the title of WSMF champion. Other bands were TT Defence Force and Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille from Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Pan Masters representing Canada, CASYM (USA) and Courts New Dimension (Grenada).

In New York, on the weekend, third place went to Defence Force, which gathered 473 points for its interpretation of the test piece and its tune-of-choice "Symphony #4 in F Minor — The Finale," from Tchaikovsky, while Sound Specialists amassed 466 points to capture the fourth spot.

Its tune-of-choice, was an own composition arranged by Cary Codrington titled "From Kumasi to La Trinidad."

Franz Von Suppe’s "Poets & Peasants Overture" (as well as the test piece), was the repertoire offered by Grenada’s Courts New Dimension. But the band had to settle for fifth place, being awarded 441 points, while US favourite CASYM came in sixth with a score of 411 points. In addition to the test piece the band played Ardin Herbert’s arrangement of "March Slave."