The organisers of the 39th Swiss National Championships, which will take place at the fabulous Montreux Convention Centre on the weekend of the 23rd & 24th November have announced a number of innovative changes to the presentation of the event.

Two days

With a record number of bands taking part, the two legged Championship Section contest will now take place over the two days. The set work will be performed on Saturday afternoon with the own choice selections played on the Sunday afternoon.

The Gala Concert will now provide the enticing musical aperitif (featuring the amazing PRO BRASS Ensemble from Austria) – taking place at 11.00am on the Sunday morning as a prelude to the Third Section and Championship Section climax later in the day.

The First, Second and Fourth Section contests will take place on the Saturday.

Good conditions

A spokesperson told 4BR: "After last year’s record breaking participation of bands the Swiss Brass Band Association was compelled to take steps in order to make sure that every band has the opportunity to perform in good conditions."

Meanwhile, the list of set works to be performed has also been announced, with Philip Wilby’s ‘Masquerade’ poised to test the elite bands, with the demanding choices of ‘Isaiah 40’, ‘Traversada’ (a brand new work from the pen of Oliver Waespi), ‘Toccata Festiva’ and ‘Olympus’ for the other sections.

Set Works:

Championship Section: Masquerade (Philip Wilby)

First Section: Isaiah 40 (Robert Redhead)

Second Section: Traversada (Oliver Waespi)

Third Section: Toccata Festiva (Jan van der Roost)

Fourth Section: Olympus (Philip Harper)

For further information go to: http://www.sbbv.ch/