Philip Jones International Brass Ensemble Competition
The Philip Jones International Brass Ensemble Competition will take place at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire next month. The Semi-Final will take place on Friday 14th July, preceded the day before with a masterclass, before the Grand Final on Saturday 15th July.
The aim of the competition is to bring together young brass quintets and showcase excellence and enterprise in brass chamber music performance, building on the pioneering legacy of Philip Jones CBE (1928-2000), without whom brass chamber music would have an infinitely lesser profile. The competition will provide a platform for a new generation of brass players, who will benefit both from an exceptionally distinguished international panel and through peer-to-peer learning. This year’s will be curated at Bradshaw Hall by the RBC's Head of Brass, Amos Miller. The competition format is for an ensemble of two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba and offers a first prize of £7,500, with additional prizes of £5,000 and £2,500.
2023 also marks the 30th anniversary of the eminent British brass quintet Onyx Brass, of which Philip Jones was a patron and which led to the commission of numerous works for the medium. Initiated by Ursula Jones OBE and supported by Buffet Crampon and the Royal Philharmonic Society, several of the set repertoire suggestions for the competition come from the Onyx Brass catalogue, with initial entries assessed by members of the group, and their composer-in-association Timothy Jackson.
A free masterclass event on Thursday 13th July (10.30am start) will feature Pasi Pirinen (Principal Trumpet, Helsinki Philharmonic); Alan Thomas (Onyx Brass, Septura, former principal trumpet BBC Symphony Orchestra); Annamia Larsson (French horn of Stockholm Chamber Brass); Mayumi Shimizu (Solo trombone of SWR Symphony Orchestra) and Jens Bjørn-Larsen (tuba with Hannover Hochschule, Chamber Orchestra of Europe).
The semi-final day will take place on Friday 14th July (free entry — 3.00pm to 9.30pm) with the final featuring the top three ensembles taking place the following day (Saturday 15th July — £10 entry: 5.00pm — 9.00pm)
The final promises to be an electric evening of music making from some of the world’s finest young brass players and featuring the top 3 groups in this year's competition. During the deliberation there will also be the opportunity to hear the rest of the wonderful contestants in the world premiere of a new arrangement of music from ‘Castor and Pollux’ by Rameau for nonuple brass quintet!
Schedule:
Masterclass (free):
Thursday 13th July
Semi-Final (free):
Friday 14th July
https://www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/events-calendar/philip-jones-day-2-
Grand Final:
Saturday 15th July
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