The Swiss Brass Band Association has confirmed that a record entry of 66 bands will compete at this year's National Championships in Montreux.
The 42nd Championships will once again be held at the superb Montreux Convention Centre overlooking Lake Geneva on the weekend of 26th/27th November, with five sections of competition taking place in its Stravinski and Miles Davis auditoriums.
Elite contenders
12 bands will battle for the elite level Championship Section title and the opportunity to represent the nation at the 2017 European Championship in Ostend.
The defending champion is Valaisia Brass Band, with the set-work 'Music for Battle Creek' by Philip Sparke and the own-choice selections being performed over Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
From Divers to Evolution
20 bands will battle against each other in the First Section, where the set-work is 'L'Effet Divers' by Belgian composer Stan Nieuwenhuis, whilst another composition first heard at the 2015 EBBA European Composer Competition, ' …As a Glow' by Ludovic Neurohr is the test for the 14 contenders in the Second Section.
Oliver Waespi's elegant 'Graces of Love' will face the 14 bands in the Third Section with Philip Sparke's 'Evolutions' the tricky test for the six rivals in the Fourth.
Judges
The task of adjudicating the bands falls into the hands of Brett Baker, Thomas Doss, Reid Gilje, Paul Holland, Thomas Ruedi, Howard Snell, Jan van der Roost, Klaas van der Woude and Benny Wiame.
Registration
With a great deal of debate in the UK currently surrounding the question of a robust registration system, the Swiss Championships see participants free to choose which section they wish to compete in with more than one band (allowing them to play with village as well as regionally based bands) — although the underpinning rule is that all players must be legally domiciled in Switzerland or be of Swiss origin.
As always there will be a great deal of interest in the own-choice selections of the elite bands, with at least two new works being premiered.
4BR coverage
4BR will be heading to Switzerland next weekend to fully cover the event — with live comments from each section, brilliant images from Ian Clowes at Goldy Solutions and interviews and opinions, views and post contest analysis to round things off.
Set Works:
Championship Section: Music for Battle Creek (Philip Sparke)
First Section: L'Effet Divers (Stan Nieuwenhuis)
Second Section: …As a Glow (Ludovic Neurohr)
Third Section: Graces of Love (Oliver Waespi)
Fourth Section: Evolutions (Philip Sparke)
Championship Section: Own-Choice selections:
As if a voice were in them (Oliver Waespi)
Blue Horizons (Bertrand Moren)
Concerto Grosso No. 1 (Lewis Furber)
Goldberg 2012 (Svein H Giske)
Hypercube (Oliver Waespi) [2]
Metropolis 1927 (Peter Graham) [2]
Paradisum (Thomas Doss)
REM-Scapes (Thomas Doss)
Spiriti (Thomas Doss)
The Fallen Bride (Ludovic Neurohr)
Competing Bands:
Championship Section:
Brass Band Berner Oberland (Corsin Tuor)
Brass Band Burgermusik Luzern (Michael Bach)
Brass Band Fribourg A (Dr. Robert Childs)
Brass Band Treize Etoiles (Dr. James Gourlay)
Constellation Brass Band A (Yvan Lagger)
Ensemble de Cuivres Jurassien (Blaise Heritier)
Ensemble de Cuivres Melodia (Vincent Baroni)
Ensemble de Cuivres Valaisan (Francois Roh)
Liberty Brass Band Ostschweiz (Andreas Koller)
MG Risch-Rotkreuz (Roland Froscher)
Oberaargauer Brass Band (Christoph Luchsinger)
Valaisia Brass Band (Arsene Duc) (Defending Champion)
First Section:
AEW Brass Band Fricktal (Tristan Uth)
Brass Band Breitenbach (Bence Toth)
Brass Band Cazis (Enrico Calzaferri)
Brass Band Eglisau (Andreas Burri) (Defending Champion)
Brass Band Emmental (Jan Muller)
Brass Band Fribourg B (Maurice Donnet-Monay)
Brass Band Harmonie Neuenkirch (Manuel Imhof)
Brass Band Imperial Lenzburg A-Band (Rafael Camartin)
Brass Band Kirchmusik Fluhli (Armin Renggli)
Brass Band MG Reiden (Roland Froscher)
Brass Band Rickenbach (Enrico Calzaferri)
Brass Band Rosalp (David Bonvin)
Brass Band Schotz (Urs Bucher)
Brass Band Sursilvana (Roman Caprez)
Brass Band Treize Etoiles B (Cedric Vergere)
Ensemble de Cuivres Ambitus (Francois Roh)
Ensemble de Cuivres Euphonia (Michael Bach)
Oberwalliser Brass Band A (David Lochmatter)
Regional Brass Band Bern (Jon Kowszun)
Universal Brass Band Wil (Gian Stecher)
Second Section:
BML Talents (Patrick Ottiger)
Brass Band 43 (Jacques Rossier)
Brass Band Abinchova (Gian Walker) (Defending Champion)
Brass Band Berner Oberland Junior (Jan Muller)
Brass Band Feldmusik Escholzmatt (Roger Muller)
Brass Band Harmonie Rickenbach (Lukas Scherrer)
Brass Band Junior Valaisan (Maurice Donnet-Monay)
Brass Band l'Avenir Lignieres (Cyril Perrenoud)
Brass Band Matzendorf (Marcel Bossert)
Brass Band Posaunenchor Flaach (Thomas Fischer)
Brass Band Rapperswil-Wierezwil (Pawel Marciniak)
Ensemble de Cuivres Jurassien B (Florian Lab)
Ensemble de Cuivres Melodia B (Sebastien Pasch)
Liberty Brass Band Junior (Christoph Luchsinger)
Third Section:
Brass Band Gurbetal (Urs Stahli)
Brass Band Imperial Lenzburg B (Stefan Aegerter)
Brass Band Junior Vaudois (Simon Sulmoni)
Brass Band Musig Hittnau (Anita Grob)
Brass Band Schupfen (Anton Helscher)
Brass Band Zurich (Werner Kubli)
Constellation Brass Band B (Ivan Denis)
Fanfare l'Harmonie de Vendlincourt (Oliver Bendit)
Jugend Brass Band Michelsamt (Lukas Scherrer) (Defending Champion)
La Lyre paroissiale de la Roche (Mark-Olivier Broillet)
Musik Frohsinn Oberburg (Jan Muller)
Musikgesellschaft Jenaz (Tristan Uth)
Musikverein Brass Band Henggart (Christian Bachmann)
Musikverein Buckten (Cedric Fuhrer)
Fourth Section:
Entlebucher Jugend Brass Band (Mario J. Schubiger)
Hinterlander Jugend Brass Band (Luca Frischknecht) (Defending Champion)
Jugend Brass Band Neuenkirch (Manuel Imhof)
Jugend Brass Band RML (Ivan Estermann)
Mgrr Junior Band (Matthias Kieffer)
Thunersee Brass (Christoph Hertig)
Tickets:
Tickets are available through the homepage of the Montreux Music and Convention Center 2m2c: www.saisonculturelle.ch or through the home page of the Swiss Brass Band Association: www.sbbv.ch or by phone directly through the booking office: +41 21 962 21 19
