Brass Band Willebroek and Frans Violet are very proud to announce that Raf Van Looveren will be returning to the band on solo cornet. Raf played principal cornet for 11 years and helped the band win two European titles. In 2011 he left the band to become a freelance cornet player and to focus more on conducting, next to his job as 1st soloist cornet with the Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides.
He kept following the achievements and the developments of the band and wanted nothing more than to be a part of it again. Raf already knows the band and conductor Frans Violet, which means he will fit in easily with the existing solo cornet section. Furthermore, he will add to the level of quality and experience of the band.
More familiar faces
Playing the second trombone is another familiar face. The band has been able to convince Wim Lauryssen to return as a full time trombone player. During his leave, Wim has become a professional musician as a trombone player with the Royal Band of the Belgian Air Force. The third familiar face we will see returning is that of Dirk Reyniers, who will temporarily fill in for Tine Doom as she had to forfeit all scheduled band activities as well as the Belgian Brass Band Championship due to illness. We wish her a speedy recovery!
Student of Frans Violet
Last but not least, we welcome Amber Van Houtven to our cornet section. She graduated at the 'Kunsthumaniora' (secondary school of the arts) as a student of Frans Violet and will be attending the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, again as a student of Frans Violet.
We wish everyone the best of luck and a lot of fun with the band and are convinced that with the addition of these musicians we will be one step closer to becoming a more homogeneous and high-quality orchestra.
Translated by: Kim D.H.