On Thursday 27th of April, Brass Band Willebroek sets off to Ostend for the 40th European Brass Band Championships.
Arrived at their hotel, band members didn’t have much time to relax and immediately left to their rehearsal spot in Ostend. An evening full of last efforts on the set test piece, Where Angels Fly from Belgian composer Kevin Houben, was needed to get the band ready for the contest. On Friday our band manager, Jaak Kuterna, got the band a perfect draw, placing the band 11th on the stage. One last rehearsal for the band in the morning and then off to the beautiful Kursaal for the contest. Brass Band Willebroek made a great performance of the set test piece, giving them 92 points.
After their performance Willebroek got back to the rehearsal room to work on their own choice piece, The Turing Test composed by Simon Dobson. This piece was commissioned by Brass Band Willebroek, and made his European Premiere at the European Brass Band Championships.
On Saturday Jaak made the band very happy, with again a perfect draw, as Willebroek may attend the stage as band number 11. The Turing Test seemed to be a great piece to perform on the stage of the Kursaal. The audience enjoyed the band’s performance as Willebroek made a really terrific performance of The Turing Test. Willebroek’s performance of The Turing Test got them 96 points.
Gala Concert
When it was time for the award ceremony you could feel the tension in the hall. Brassband Willebroek had played two very good performances, both the set test piece and their own choice piece. But all the contenders played at a very high level so nobody could say what the results would be. Willebroek placed themselves fourth at the 40th European Brass Band Championships with a total of 188 points.
Brass Band Willebroek would like to congratulate the other bands, especially Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musiklag on their European victory.
European Youth Brass Band Championships
On Sunday, it was time for Young Brass Band Willebroek to make their appearance on the stage of the Kursaal. They were there to defense their European title for the third time.
Young Brass Band Willebroek succeeded in gaining a European hat trick for the first time in their history as they were crowned European Youth Champions 2017!
Results
Championship Section EBBC 2017
Adjudicators:
Set test piece: Torgny Hansen, Jan Van der Roost, Dr Roger Webster
Own choice piece: Philippe Bach, Ben Haemhouts, Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
(draw): Set test piece/Own choice piece = Total
1. Eikanger-Bjorsvik (Ingar Bergby) (10/9): 95/98 = 193
2. Valaisia Brass Band (Arsene Duc) (7/5): 96/95 = 191*
3. Cory (Philip Harper) (6/3): 94/97 = 191
4. Brass Band Willebroek (Frans Violet) (11/11): 92/96 = 188
5. Tredegar (Ian Porthouse)(9/6): 91/92 = 183*
6. Concord (Jesper Juul Windahl) (8/10): 90/93 = 183
7. Paris Brass Band (Florient Didier) (3/7): 89/94 = 183
8. Brighouse & Rastrick (Professor David King) (4/8): 93/89 = 182
9. Brass Band Schoonhoven (Ivan Meylemans) (12/4): 88/90 = 178
10. Brass Band Oberosterreich (Erik Janssen) (5/12): 86/91 = 177
11. Brass Band Buizingen (Luc Vertommen) (1/1): 87/87 = 174
12. 3BA Concert (Thomas Ludescher) (2/2): 85/88 = 173
Best Instrumentalist: Glyn Williams (euphonium) — Cory
Premier Section EYBBC 2017
Set test piece: 'Dimensions' (Peter Graham) Adjudicators: Kevin Houben, Dr David Thornton
1. Young Brass Band Willebroek (Frans Violet) — 94
2. Youth Brass 2000 (Chris Jeans) — 93
3. Berner Oberland Junior (Jan Muller) — 89
4. Swedish Youth (Berit Palmquist) — 87
Best Instrumentalist: Thomas Fountain (cornet) — Youth Brass 2000