Tongwynlais Temperance has announced that it will team up with Swedish conductor Andreas Kratz (above) to lead their assault at the Welsh Area contest in Swansea in March.

With two additional qualification places on offer for the Royal Albert Hall due to the pre-qualification of defending Welsh champion Cory and Tredegar, as well as the battle for European Championship qualification, there will be much at stake at the Brangwyn Hall on Sunday 18th March.

Welsh return

As well as a being a highly respected trombonist with the Gothenburg Opera House orchestra, Andreas Kratz is the MD of the Windcorp Brass Band in Sweden.

The engagement also marks a welcome return to Welsh banding as Andreas previously worked as a tutor with the 2015 National Youth Band of Wales. He will work alongside newly appointed resident MD, Matthew Rowe.

Exciting link

Band Chairman Iestyn Davies told 4BR: "The opportunity of working with Andreas is one that is so exciting for the band and links well to the excellent work already undertaken by Matthew who will be leading us in the Band Cymru contest in February."

He added: "Andreas has been extremely generous in offering us a schedule that fits in with our current work and which builds on the progress made under Principal Conductor, Ian Holmes.

The appointments of Andreas and Matt are a further sign of our continued commitment to develop our links with exciting musical talent."

The banding scene in Wales is extremely competitive and hotly contested so it's a real plunge into the deep-end of conducting at the top level with the potential rewards of qualification to the Albert Hall on offerAndreas Kratz

Potential rewards

In response Andreas added: "I'm looking forward to working and making great music with Tongwynlais. The banding scene in Wales is extremely competitive and hotly contested so it's a real plunge into the deep-end of conducting at the top level with the potential rewards of qualification to the Albert Hall on offer."

Meanwhile, Matt Rowe added, "Since graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama I've been keen to gain experience of working with a top-flight band, and to do this with Tongwynlais and alongside the likes of Ian and Andreas is a real privilege."