The 2024 RNCM International Brass Band Festival returns to Manchester in January for a weekend packed with world class music making.
Following the retirement of Artistic Director Paul Hindmarsh, his successor Dr David Thornton has built on his outstanding legacy with a programme that sees twelve world premières performed alongside classic brass band repertoire.
Dropping the rules
Speaking about the festival, David Thornton said that his vision was one of embracing the brass band world in the broadest possible way.
The brass band is capable of much more than we sometimes allow it to be, so let’s celebrate dropping the rules and shedding the shackles of tradition and see where it takes us in 2024 and beyond
“Let’s encourage imagination, let’s encourage diversity, curiosity, and openness," the RNCM Director of Brass Bands enthused. "The brass band is capable of much more than we sometimes allow it to be, so let’s celebrate dropping the rules and shedding the shackles of tradition and see where it takes us in 2024 and beyond.”
Six of the world’s leading bands will provide the ensemble music making - including the current European, British Open and National Champions.
Swiss debut
Brass Band Treize Étoiles from Switzerland make a welcome debut with a programme that celebrates their 50th anniversary.
Works by Damien Lagger, Ludovic Neurohr and a reprise of their European winning commission ‘Sand and Stars’ by Thierry Deleruyelle form the core of their enticing contribution under MD, Frederic Theodoloz.
Trombone soloist Lionel Fumeaux showcases Gilles Rocha’s thrilling ‘Fly or Die’, whilst they also feature ‘Remointze’ by Ludovic Neurohr.
Foden’s classics
Foden’s led by Michael Fowles will bookend their appearance with Malcolm Arnold’s ‘Fantasy for Brass Band’ and Percy Fletcher’s ‘Epic Symphony’.
Global connections come a world premiere of ‘Pest Is Where The Noise Is At’ by Hungarian composer Kamea Nemeth and the UK première of ‘Allpamenta’ by Argentinian Ignacio Freijo.
Global connections come a world premiere of ‘Pest Is Where The Noise Is At’ by Hungarian composer Kamea Nemeth and the UK première of ‘Allpamenta’ by Argentinian Ignacio Freijo.
In addition, they feature ‘Ragtimes & Habenaras’ by Hans Werner Henze with guest soloist Sheona White performing the world premiere of ‘Legend of a Giant’ by Kevin Houben.
Black Dyke Bliss
Black Dyke Band will feature two works by Sir Arthur Bliss – his iconic ‘Kenilworth’ and a world premiere of a transcription of the music to his ballet ‘Adam Zero’ made by Dr Robert Childs.
There will also be the world première of Stephen Roberts’ ‘Shades of the Soul’, based on the music of Frederic Chopin and which loosely expresses an outline of the Polish composer’s life, as well as Oliver Waespi’s ‘Antiphones’.
Their soloists, Siobhan Bates and Brett Baker will be featured in ‘Fantasie Concertante for Horn’ (Philip Wilby) and ‘Servant of Peace’ - Concerto for Trombone (Dorothy Gates).
German connection for Tredegar
One of the most anticipated solo performances of the weekend will come with the visit of German trumpet player Matthias Hofs alongside Welsh champion, Tredegar.
the lead trumpet with German Brass provides two works by jazz musician and film composer Wolf Kerschek - ‘Balkan Children’s Dance’ and ‘Ein Spanische Weinacht’.
Conducted by Ian Porthouse they will include a world premiere from young composer Jude Radley titled ‘Momentum’, before the lead trumpet with German Brass provides two works by jazz musician and film composer Wolf Kerschek - ‘Balkan Children’s Dance’ and ‘Ein Spanische Weinacht’.
Tredegar will also include Oliver Waespi’s ‘As if a voice were in them…’ and Ludovic Neurohr’s ‘Are We Dark Inside?’
Cory celebration
Cory will celebrate their 140th anniversary by reviving an iconic work written for their centenary in 1984 - Philip Sparke’s ‘The Year of the Dragon’.
Led by Philip Harper they will also reprise their 2023 European Championship performance of Oliver Waespi’s ‘Other Lives’, inspired by fragments of music by Franz Schubert, as well as giving the world premiere of ‘Dance No.1’ by Mihailo Trandafilovski.
Glyn Williams is their featured soloist in Philip Harper’s ‘Euphonium Concerto’, with Dorothy Gates’ ‘The Living God’ completing their programme.
Gourlay return with Brighouse
Brighouse & Rastrick Band will welcome James Gourlay to the podium for their performance.
The Scotsman led the band from 2004-2006 and is also the current International Chair of Brass Bands at the RNCM, a role he shares with their principal conductor Prof David King.
The band will also perform Thea Musgrave’s rarely heard ‘Variations’ written in 1966. In 2022 the 94-year-old was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society.
The programme features the 1924 National test-piece, ‘On the Cornish Coast’ by Henry Geehl, whilst there is the opportunity to hear music from exciting American composer Jim Self.
Self is a tubist based in LA and is perhaps most famous for being ‘the voice of the mothership’ in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’. His ‘Tour De Force’ is a virtuosic concerto for brass band that will be a thrilling element to Brighouse’s concert.
The band will also perform Thea Musgrave’s rarely heard ‘Variations’ written in 1966. In 2022 the 94-year-old was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society. They will round off the festival with George Lloyd’s ‘Diversions on a Bass Theme’.
Featured composers
The featured composers are the acclaimed Swiss writer Oliver Waespi, who will be celebrated with his major works - ‘Hypercube’, ‘As If A Voice Were In Them….’, ‘Traversada’ and ‘Antiphonies on Themes by William Byrd’.
Belfast born Dorothy Gates will be featured with her trilogy of ‘Hope’, ‘Faith’, and ‘Invisible Fire’. Cory will present ‘The Living God’, a very personal piece written following the death of her father, leading her to question her own faith.
Soloist Showcase
In addition to the world class line of ensembles, there is the opportunity to revel in the individual talents of remarkable soloists.
In addition to Matthias Hofs there are spotlights on Sheona White, Lionel Fumeaux, Glyn Williams, Siobhan Bates, Gary Curtin, Jamie Smith, and Ellena Newton (below).
RNCM Students
The RNCM Brass Band will be directed by James Gourlay. Their international program has music by Venezuelan Giancarlo Castro and Pimpanit Karoonyavanich from Thailand. Karoonyavanich wrote ‘A Journey to the Bermuda Triangle’ in 2017 for the Third Division of the Dutch National Championships, inspired by her favourite sea view painting by Romain Steppe (1859-1927).
Gary Curtin appears with them to give the world premiere of Tom Harrold’s ‘Deep Surge’.
His music has international renown and his 2016 composition ‘Raze’, opened the BBC Last ‘Night of the Proms’ concert. Also featured are the RNCM Rosamund Brass quartet alongside James Gourlay.
The weekend opens with a Festival Prelude featuring the RNCM students of the Salford Quays Brass Quartet
In addition there is an extended interview with James Gourlay, a presentation discussion led by Brass Bands England and a feature segment given to Grimethorpe Youth Band.
Iwan Fox
2024 RNCM International Brass Band Festival
Friday 26th – Sunday 28th January
Friday 26th January:
Festival Prelude
Carole Nash Recital Room
6.15pm
RNCM students perform world premières of works by RNCM alums Lucy Pankhurst and Jonathan Bates.
Salford Quays Brass Quartet
Alicia Davis, Lewis Barton (cornets)
Emma Conway (horn)
Julian Bayley (euphonium)
Tickets:
Free admission, ticket required
This event will end at approximately 6.45pm.
Friday 26th January
Foden’s Band
Conductor: Michael Fowles
Soloist: Sheona White
RNCM Concert Hall
7.30pm
Fantasy for Brass Band (Malcolm Arnold)
Legend of a Giant (Kevin Houben)
Soloist: Sheona White
(world première of version for tenor horn)*
Hope (Dorothy Gates)
Allpamenta (Ignacio Freijo)
(UK premiere)
Pest Is Where the Noise Is At (Kámea Németh)
(world premiere)
Ragtimes & Habeneras (Hans Werner Henze)
An Epic Symphony (Percy Fletcher)
Tickets:
£9 (Under 26s and Students) + £1 Booking Fee
£18 + £1 Booking Fee
This event will include a 20-minute interval and will end at approximately 9.30pm.
Saturday 27th January:
Brass Band Treize Etoiles
Conductor: Frederic Theodoloz
Soloist: Lionel Fumeaux
RNCM Concert Hall
11.00am
Euroflash (Damien Lagger)
Fly or Die (Gilles Rocha)
Soloist: Lionel Fumeaux
Sand and Stars (Thierry Deleruyelle)
Remointze (Ludovic Neurohr)
Hypercube (Oliver Waespi)
Tickets:
£9 (Under 26s and Students) + £1 Booking Fee
£18 + £1 Booking Fee
This event will end at approximately 12.15pm.
Saturday 27th January
The 4barsrest Interview: James Gourlay
RNCM Theatre
1.30pm
4Barsrest editor Iwan Fox interviews tuba virtuoso and conductor James Gourlay about his life and work.
Tickets
Free admission, ticket required
This event will end at approximately 2.15pm.
Saturday 27th January
Tredegar Band
Conductor: Ian Porthouse
Soloist: Matthias Hofs
RNCM Concert Hall
3.00pm
Momentum (Jude Radley)
(world premiere)
Balkan Children’s Dance (Wolf Kerschek)
Soloist: Matthias Hofs
As If A Voice Were In Them… (Oliver Waespi)
Ein Spanische Weinacht (Wolf Kerschek arr. H R Schmidt)
Soloist: Matthias Hofs
Are We Dark Inside? (Ludovic Neurohr)
Tickets:
£9 (Under 26s and Students) + £1 Booking Fee
£18 + £1 Booking Fee
This event will end at approximately 4.15pm.
Saturday 27th January
Junior RNCM Brass Band
Conductors: Mark Bousie, Phil Goodwin
RNCM Theatre
4.45pm
To include:
War Cry (Dorothy Gates)
Graces of Love (Oliver Waespi)
Tickets: Free admission, ticket required
This event will end at approximately 5.30pm.
Saturday 27th January
Black Dyke Band
Conductor: Prof Nicholas Childs
Soloists: Siobhan Bates and Brett Baker
RNCM Concert Hall
7.30pm
Kenilworth (Arthur Bliss)
Fantasie Concertante for Horn (Philip Wilby)
Soloist: Siobhan Bates
Shades of the Soul (Stephen Roberts)
(world premiere)
Adam Zero Suite (Arthur Bliss arr. Robert Childs)
(world premiere)
Servant of Peace Concerto for Trombone (Dorothy Gates)
Soloist: Brett Baker
Antiphonies on Themes by William Byrd (Oliver Waespi)
Tickets:
£9 (Under 26s and Students) + £1 Booking Fee
£18 + £1 Booking Fee
This event will include a 20-minute interval and will end at approximately 9.30pm.
Sunday 28th January
RNCM Brass Band
Conductors: James Gourlay and David Thornton
Soloist: Gary Curtin
RNCM Concert Hall
11.00am
Gran Fanfaria (Giancarlo Castro)
Requiescant Aberfan (Martin Ellerby)
Deep Surge (Tom Harrold)
(world premiere)
Soloist: Gary Curtin
Another World – Concerto for Brass Quintet and Brass Band (Dorothy Gates)
Featuring: Rosamund Brass with guest tuba player James Gourlay
Adam Hofland-Ward & Seb Williman (cornets)
Georgia Woodhead (horn)
Alex Barron (euphonium)
Traversada (Oliver Waespi)
A Journey to the Bermuda Triangle (Pimpanit Karoonyavanich)
Tickets:
£9 (Under 26s and Students) + £1 Booking Fee
£18 + £1 Booking Fee
This event will end at approximately 12.15pm.
Sunday 28th January
‘A Grimethorpe Adventure' - Grimethorpe Youth Band
RNCM Theatre
1.30pm
Presentation and performance by Grimethorpe Education Initiative, including ‘A Grimethorpe Adventure’ – an Arts Council England funded project and performances by Grimethorpe Senior Youth Band.
The performance is supported by the John Golland Trust and will include the world première of a newly discovered cornet solo by John Golland (written in 1984), performed by Grimethorpe’s principal cornet Jamie Smith.
The performance will also feature two world premieres of works submitted to the Grimethorpe Colliery Band composition competition held in July 2023.
Tickets
Free admission, ticket required
This event will end at approximately 2.15pm.
Sunday 28th January
Cory Band
Conductor: Philip Harper
Soloist: Glyn Williams
RNCM Concert Hall
3.00pm
The Year of the Dragon (Philip Sparke)
Euphonium Concerto (Philip Harper)
Soloist: Glyn Williams
Dance No.1 (Mihailo Trandafilovski)
(world premiere)
The Living God (Dorothy Gates)
Other Lives (Oliver Waespi)
Tickets:
£9 (Under 26s and Students) + £1 Booking Fee
£18 + £1 Booking Fee
This event will end at approximately 4.15pm.
Sunday 28th January
Brass Bands England Presentation
Carole Nash Recital Room
4.45pm
A panel discussion on ‘The future of brass band repertoire in an increasingly diverse society’.
Tickets:
Free admission, ticket required
Sunday 28th January
Brighouse & Rastrick Band
Conductor: James Gourlay
Soloist: Ellena Newton
RNCM Concert Hall
6.30pm
On the Cornish Coast (Henry Geehl)
Colors (Bert Appermont)
Soloist: Ellena Newton
Invisible Fire (Dorothy Gates)
Tour de Force (Jim Self)
Variations (Thea Musgrave)
Wonderous Cross (Philip Wilby)
Diversions on a Bass Theme (George Lloyd)
Tickets:
£9 (Under 26s and Students) + £1 Booking Fee
£18 + £1 Booking Fee
This event will include a 20-minute interval and will end at approximately 8.30pm.
