The 2026 Royal Northern International Brass Festival is set to take place in Manchester on the weekend of the 23rd- 25th January.
Tickets for the event are now on sale with a high level of early demand. There is also a festival discount of 20% off at least one ticket per event when listeners book three or more concerts (excluding free events).
To find out more go to: http://https://www.rncm.ac.uk/festivals/rncm-international-brass-band-festival/
Image courtesy: Thomas Jackson (https://www.tynesight.co.uk/)
Elite performers
Curated by Artistic Director Dr David Thornton (above), it will feature leading elite level bands and performers giving nine world premieres and UK firsts, as well as paying homage to composer Philip Sparke (below) who celebrates his 75th birthday later in the year.
it will feature leading elite level bands and performers giving nine world premieres and UK firsts, as well as paying homage to composer Philip Sparke (below) who celebrates his 75th birthday later in the year.
The bands include recently crowned Danish National Champion Concord Brass Band directed by Stig Maersk, as well as Black Dyke (Prof. Nicholas Childs), Brighouse & Rastrick (Dr David Thornton), Cory (Philip Harper), Foden’s (Michael Fowles) and Tredegar Town (Ian Porthouse) alongside the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band (Richard Marshall), the RNCM Brass Band (Katrina Marzella-Wheeler) and RNCM Junior Brass Band (Mark Bousie).
Six decade span
Works spotlighted span the remarkable six-decade arc of Sparke’s compositional output – from the ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’ (1979) to the premiere of ‘Gemini’ a new duet for cornet and euphonium to be played by Black Dyke featuring newly appointed principal cornet Tom Hutchinson and Adam Bokaris.
There will also be the UK premiere of his ‘Lucerne Dances’ performed by the Junior RNCM Brass Band, which will receive its world premiere at the forthcoming Swiss National Championships.
Orbital
Other eagerly anticipated premieres included ‘Orbital’, by Richard Blackford (above) to be performed by Cory Band, as well as works by Dorothy Gates, Bruce Broughton, Simon Dobson and Theo Koita-Bocard.
Foden’s will perform Paul Mealor’s latest major work ‘Tranquil Abiding’, as well as a newly re-scored version of Edmund Rubbra’s ‘Variations on the Shining River’, whilst Tredegar will present Phil Lawrence’s ‘Melisande’, his final major work written before his untimely death earlier this year.
Wallen Gold
There will also be a welcome reprise of Dame Errollyn Wallen’s ‘Gold Saturday’ (below) played by the RNCM Brass Band, whilst Brighouse & Rastrick will give the world premieres of both Helena Zyskowska’s ‘Ondinas’ and Dorothy Gates’ ‘Tuba Concerto’.
Thea Musgrave’s wonderful ‘Variations’ is also to be performed as are works from some of the brass band medium's most celebrated writers such as Philip Wilby, George Lloyd, Hermann Pallhuber, Eric Ball and William Himes.
Thea Musgrave’s wonderful ‘Variations’ is also to be performed as are works from some of the brass band medium's most celebrated writers such as Philip Wilby, George Lloyd, Hermann Pallhuber, Eric Ball and William Himes.
Soloists
As always there will be a formidable array of world class soloists - with the likes of virtuosi euphonium players Glenn Van Looy and Chris Robertson, tuba maestro, Les Neish and percussion star Yasuaki Fukuhara providing major concerto performances, whilst the outstanding talents of Jesper Juul Windahl (trombone), Brett Baker (trombone), Louis Kroni (soprano), Oliver Tattersall (cornet) and Phoebe Mallinson (flugel) will also be showcased.
Claire Cope (Blackham images)
The Green Chapel
The RNCM Euphonium and Baritone Ensemble will open the festival on Friday evening, whilst the RNCM Young Low Brass and Young Trombones will also be featured on Sunday lunchtime. The critically acclaimed Bones Apart trombone quartet will give the world premiere of a special festival commission by composer Claire Cope (above) entitled, ‘The Green Chapel’.
In addition there will also be the added attractions of the regular 4BR Interview, and a discussion feature hosted by Brass Bands England.
2026 RNCM International Brass Band Festival.
Schedule:
Friday 23rd January:
Festival Prelude
RNCM Euphonium/Baritone Ensemble
Conductor: Steven Mead
Carole Nash Recital Hall
Start: 6.15pm
Tickets: Sold out
Finale from The Gadfly (Dimitri Shostakovich)
Ball of Fire (Peter Smalley)
Loch Lomond (Trad arr. Ken Williamson)
Fantasy on Charge (Benjamin Roundtree)
She Walked Through the Fair (Trad Arr. Sean Peterson)
Blaze (Jim Fieldhouse)
Foden’s Band
Conductor: Michael Fowles
Bones Apart Trombone Quartet
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 7.30pm
A Fanfare of Bells (Hermann Pallhuber)
The Green Chapel (Claire Cope) - IBBF commission and world premiere
Tranquil Abiding (Paul Mealor)
Prelude and Courtley Dances from Gloriana (Benjamin Britten arr. Paul Hindmarsh)
Variations on the Shining River (Edmund Rubbra) - world premiere of newly re-scored version by Phillip Littlemore
Partita (Philip Sparke)
Tickets: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=68401
Saturday 24th January:
Concord Band
Conductor: Stig Maersk
Soloist: Jesper Juul Windahl
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 11.00am
DAO Fanfare (Jacob Vilhelm Larsen)
Doing (Per Norgaard)
Trombone Concerto (Launy Grøndahl)
Soloist: Jesper Juul Windahl (above)
Hope (Frederik Magle)
Ravenscroft Variations (Jacob Vilhelm Larsen)
Dance of the Cockerels (Carl Nielsen arr Andreas Spang Olsen)
Tickets: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=68601
The 4Barsrest Interview:
Opera Theatre
Start: 1.30pm
Free admission by ticket: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=68801
Tredegar Band
Conductor: Ian Porthouse
Soloist: Glenn Van Looy
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 3.00pm
A Spark Forgotten (Tamsin Crook)
Euphonium Concerto (Derek Bourgeois)
Soloist: Glenn Van Looy
Mellisande (Phil Lawrence) - world premiere
Land of the Long White Cloud (Philip Sparke)
Tickets: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=69001
Junior RNCM Brass Band
Conductor: Mark Bousie
Soloist: Oliver Tattersall
Opera Theatre
Start: 4.45pm
March: Star Lake (Eric Ball)
Lucerne Dances (Philip Sparke)
Shift (Peter Meechan)
Song of Hope (Peter Meechan)
Soloist: Oliver Tattersall
Fanfare and Funk (Oliver Waespi)
Starburst (Dan Price)
Free admission by ticket: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=69201
Black Dyke Band
Conductor: Prof Nicholas Childs
Soloists: Yasuaki Fukuhara, Tom Hutchinson, Adam Bokaris
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 7.30pm
Fanfare for Bradford (Paul Lovatt-Cooper)
Variations (Thea Musgrave)
Gemini – Duo Concerto for Cornet and Euphonium (Philip Sparke) – world premiere
Soloists: Tom Hutchinson, Adam Bokaris
Wildfire (Bruce Broughton) - world premiere
Aureum Spiriti (Jacob Vilhelm Larsen) - world premiere
Percussion Concerto (Simon Dobson) - world premiere
Soloist: Yasuaki Fukuhara
Feste Romane (Ottorino Respighi arr. Howard Snell)
Tickets: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=69401
Sunday 26th January:
RNCM Brass Band
Conductors: Katrina Marzella Wheeler, Chris Binns*
Soloist: Louis Kroni
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 11.00am
London Overture (Philip Sparke)
The Riot at the Rite (Simon Dobson)
Dark or Bright? (Louis Kroni arr. Bertrand Moren)
Soloist: Louis Kroni
We Seven (Derek M. Jenkins)*
Tabi: The Journey (Theo Koita-Borcard) – world premiere
Gold Saturday (Errolyn Wallen)
Tickets: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=69601
RNCM Young Low Brass and Young Trombones
RNCM Concourse
Start: 12.30pm
Free – no ticket required
Yorkshire Youth Band
Conductor: Richard Marshall
Soloist: Phoebe Mallinson
Opera Theatre
Start: 1.30pm
Concert Prelude (Philip Sparke)
When One Sees Light (Mia Lee)
Concertino for Flugel Horn (William Himes)*
Soloist: Phoebe Mallinson
Dance Like David (Andrew Mackereth)
Legends in Brass (James Curnow)
*Accompanied by past YYBB and Current / Alumni RNCM Students
Tickets: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=69801
Cory Band
Conductor: Philip Harper
Soloist: Brett Baker
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 3.00pm
Raveling, Unraveling (Philip Sparke)
Light Fantastic for trombone & brass band (Philip Wilby)
Descent (Mark Boden) - world premiere of brass band version
Orbital (Richard Blackford) - world premiere
Tickets: https://www.rncm.ac.uk/basket/?instance_id=70001
Brass Bands England Discussion
Brass Bands and the Media
RNCM Carole Nash Recital Room
Start: 4.45pm
Tickets: Sold out
Brighouse & Rastrick
Conductor: Dr David Thornton
Soloists: Les Neish; Chris Robertson
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 6.30pm
B of the Bang (Peter Meechan)
Euphonium Concerto No2 (Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen)
Soloist: Chris Robertson
Royal Parks (George Lloyd)
Ondinas (Helena Zyskowska) - world premiere
Concerto for Tuba & Brass Band (Dorothy Gates) - world premiere
Soloist: Les Neish
Music of the Spheres (Philip Sparke)
