European Youth Championships
Malcolm Wood was on hand to sample the high quality playing at the European Youth Brass Band Championships
After all the drama of Friday and Saturday when Cory and Brass Band Sachsen were crowned European Champions in their respective sections, there was just as much tension, excitement and high quality playing at the European Youth Brass Band Championships on the Sunday.
Now in its third year, there is a real desire to raise the money and to participate in an event that allows ensembles of various sizes to rub shoulders with bands they may not have heard off, let alone heard perform.
The Premier Section contained eight bands, each of which had to play the set test, Philip Harper’s 2012 Olympic-themed Olympus. The piece proved to be an ideal vehicle to test the contenders, each of which delivered credible performances.
For judges Thierry Deleruyelle and Steven Mead, it was the defending champion from Belgium, Young Brass Band Willebroek under Frans Violet, which merited the title in some style. The band’s balanced ensemble sound and shaped reading of the set work really caught the ears, supplemented by The Irish Blessing and a cracking bit of euphonium playing from Jonas Violet in the traditional Rule Britannia, plus a no-nonsense Cossack Fire Dance that gave the band’s youngsters the opportunity to really show their virtuosic talents.
Willebroek was pushed hard though by…
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