Sunday the 22nd of April, Young Brass Band Willebroek (YBBW) and their conductor Lode Violet once again took part in the Flemish Open Championships, organized by Brass Band Hombeek.
They competed in B-section, with a lot of international bands Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany). The draw took place quite early and around 14h, the youngsters YBBW entered the stage. They brought a varied program with Toccatina (Olivier Marquis), Cantabile (Philip Harper), Memories of a Lost Boy (Ben Hollings) and Sing Sing Sing (Louis Prima). Especially the emotional performance of 'Memories of a Lost Boy’ moved the audience and some members of the jury to tears. The total programme ended right within the allowed 30’ (it took 29’16” to be precise).
At 17h the proclamation started and it was tense inside the Stadsschouwburg Mechelen. Besides the ranking there was also a prize for best soloist and best performance of the set test piece (Toccatina). This last one was for YBBW and the expectations grew more and more… Until the verdict came and the announcement was made that Young Brass Band Willebroek became champion with an astonishing 96%! Pro Rege Heerenveen (NL) became 2nd with a score of 93%.
The last 8 competitions that YBBW competed in, they became champions. These are overwhelming statistics and therefore the revelry was enormous. (See video)
Results B-section
Set test piece: Toccatina (Olivier Marquis)
Adjudicators: Jan de Haan, Brett Baker, Christophe Jeanbourquin
1. Young Brassband Willebroek (Lode Violet) — 96.00%
2. Brassband Pro Rege Heerenveen (Anne van den Berg) — 93.00%
3. Brass Band A7 (Thomas Wolf) — 91.00%
4. Brassband Smeermaas (Dieter Boffe) — 88.00%
5. Atout Vent (William Houssoy) — 86.00%
6. Brassband Merum (Theo Wolters) — 85.00%
7. Brassband Kunst naar Kracht (Pieter Koster) — 83.00%
Best set test piece: Young Brass Band Willebroek
Best soloist: Jeroen Zijlstra (euphonium) — Pro Rege Heerenveen