The organisers of the Brass in Concert Championship have revealed a change to the line-up of adjudicators for the 41st Festival, which will be held at Sage Gateshead on Sunday 19th November.

Change

Due to the non-availability of Tom Redmond, Richard Martin will undertake the Entertainment & Presentation adjudication role alongside Richard Evans.

Richard Martin's formative years in music were in the Salvation Army with his father as his mentor, before going on to study at the Royal College of Music under Willie Lang. He is now the trumpet section leader of the Royal Northern Sinfonia.

The revised adjudication panel is:

Quality of Performance: Jan Van der Roost (Belgium) and Lito Fontana (Italy)
Programme Content: Nick Grace
Entertainment and Presentation: Richard Evans and Richard Martin
Soloists: Ian Bousfield

Brass in Concert Chairman John Woods told 4BR: "We are delighted to be able to welcome Richard, whose experience as a professional musician, coupled with his knowledge of the band movement and involvement at Sage Gateshead, particularly as a member of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, will serve him well in the role as entertainment judge."

Marimba masterclass

John also announced that a part of the 'Focus on Youth & Education' element of this year's festival there will be a free masterclass on marimba by acclaimed percussionist and Yamaha Artist, Le Yu (above).

The multi-award winning musician has won competitions and artistic accolades throughout the musical world including first prize at the 2013 Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship Competition in London.

With hands-on audience participation in the Northern Rock Hall at 3.45pm on Saturday 18th November it is a brilliant addition to the list of attractions at the world leading event and not to be missed.

Yamaha spokesperson Natasha Homer told 4BR: "We are delighted Le Yu will present this interactive 50-minute masterclass, which will conclude with a short presentation."

Thanks

John Woods added: "We would like to thank Yamaha and the executives and trustees of Arts Council England, the Sir James Knott Trust, the Joicey Trust, the Barber Foundation and the William Leech Charity for their considerable contributions and look forward to presenting what are sure will be yet another phenomenally successful Brass in Concert Festival in 2017."

We are delighted Le Yu will present this interactive 50-minute masterclass, which will conclude with a short presentationYamaha spokesperson Natasha Homer

Tickets:

World of Brass in Concert on Saturday 18th November, featuring Brass and Voices at the Movies with Cory Band and Only Men Aloud (£27.00, £18.00 and £10.00).

Brass in Concert Championship on Sunday 19th November (£30.00, £22.00 and £12.00).

Go to: www.sagegateshead.com or from the Ticket Office on 0191 443 4661