2010 European Brass Band Championships - Introduction

The European Brass Band Championships head to their furthest ever point East this year, and the delightful city of Linz on the banks of the River Danube.

The European Brass Band Championships continue to expand its musical borders with the contest taking place this year in Linz, the third largest city in Austria, perched on the banks of the River Danube.

Whichever way you look at it – from London to Linz, from one afternoon to one week, the event has have come a very long way since 1978.

Intergrationist policy

EBBA’s integrationist policy somewhat mirrors that of the European Union itself (Austria joined the EU in 1995 and its bands first performed at the contest in 1994) so it is a welcome move by the organisation to bring the emerging banding culture of the country, centre stage – and a very fine stage at the Brucknerhaus venue 676 miles from London it is too.

There will also be a great deal of relief when the contest gets underway on Friday (30th), after the fallout (and that is perhaps the right word for it) of the Icelandic volcanic explosion threatened to derail (which perhaps isn’t) the travel arrangements of a number of competing bands.

Thankfully air travel has got just about back to normal, so all ten bands should make it to the Brucknerhaus in time to perform the intriguing set work, ‘Spiriti’ by Thomas Doss on Friday evening.

Before all that, there is plenty for the good people of Linz, and the many banding supporters to enjoy (and the reports suggest that the locals are looking forward to hosting the event with tickets for all the attractions just about sold out)


Youthful vibrancy: The European Youth Band will entertain this weekend

Festival

The whole Festival (and the hosts are promoting it as such with excellent media coverage) has already kicked off with the European Youth Brass Band meeting up on the weekend under the direction of Karl Geroldinger, and the first competitors flying in to take part in the 5th European Soloist Competition that starts on Monday (26th April).

There are also plenty of events taking place around the city under the title ‘Fun with Brass’, with five concerts at various venues from the 700 musicians of the Upper Austrian music schools.

The opening Gala Concert and the Final of the Solo Competition will take place on Thursday evening at the Brucknerhaus, whilst the following day, the draw will take place for the set work section of the contest.

Friday also sees the featured composers talking about their works, the annual free for all press conference and EBBA Brass Band Conference. The set work section starts at 5.00pm local time.  

Own Choices

On Saturday the B Section and Own Choice section of the Championship contest (starting 1.00pm local time) take place, with the Gala Concert and Awards Ceremony starting around 8.00pm local time.

With everyone nursing sore heads and wide smiles of satisfaction the EBBA General Meeting takes place on the Sunday morning before the traditional Farewell Concert and the long trips home.

4BR will be in Linz from Wednesday evening to bring you our usual coverage of the event through the live coverage on the 4BR site and 4BR Twitter, with news, views, pictures, reports, results and other features.  

For more information on the 2010 European Championship go to: www.ebba.eu.com/

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