Brassband Willebroek again has some great news, thanks to the return of one of its former band members. A few years ago Kelly Helsen had other priorities, during the construction of her house. This year she came to the Belgian Brassband Championship, a member of the audience. At that point her hunger to join the band again began to grow. Some minor rearrangements in the percussion section made her return possible and since a few weeks Kelly is rehearsing with the band again.
Kelly is a professional musician: she is 2nd soloist in the Royal band of the Belgian Air force. In this band she is the colleague of our principal euphonium player Kevin Van Giel and 2nd trombone player Wim Lauryssen.
Marimba
Kelly’s love for the marimba is hard for her to hide. After getting several degrees with greatest distinction, she was successful on an international level with her 3rd place in the ‘International Competition’ in Fermo (Italy) in 2008. In 2007 Kelly ended up in the 6th place in the triennial “Universal Marimba Competition”, which is the highest place ever for a Belgian contestant in the “Universal Marimba Competition”.
We are happy to welcome Kelly back again and we wish her good luck with the band!