Valaisia Brass Band, the reigning European and Swiss National Champion, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend with a special concert in their home municipality of Chermignon.

Formed in 2008 by three friends Gregoire Barras, Arsene Duc and Georges-Andre Romailler, in just a decade they have become one of the world's finest brass bands.

Potential unlocked

Speaking to 4BR, Grégoire Barras said that the inspiration came to form a band that could further develop the talents of the increasing number of young players coming through local village bands in their area of the Valais canton.

"A lot of the local young brass musicians couldn't find an ensemble to play in. We knew that there was great potential to bring these players together and with Arsene we had the inspirational conductor we needed.

Lots of hard work later and we now can celebrate a decade of achievement."

Titles

To mark 10 years that have seen the band claim four Swiss National titles, one Swiss Open, the European Championship and the British Open, they will host a special celebration concert on Friday 28th September in at the Martelles Hall in Chermignon.

Over 230 invited guests will be in attendance, including many former players and founder members (14 of whom are still playing with the band) as well as the President of the Swiss Brass Band Association, Ariane Brun.

Honour

Gregoire Barras added: "Over the past ten years we have had the honour to work with many world class musicians and conductors such as Allan Withington, who has been our musical advisor since our formation.

The band has also had the opportunity to work with other guests for different contests such as Robert Childs, Ivan Meylemans, Alan Morrison, Jan Van der Roost and Martin Winter — all who have aided our development enormously."

The band is now looking forward to the next decade — one that they hope will see them add to their growing reputation as one of the world's finest brass bands.

A lot of the local young brass musicians couldn't find an ensemble to play in. We knew that there was great potential to bring these players together and with Arsene we had the inspirational conductor we neededGregoire Barras

New challenges

Their star euphonium player Glenn Van Looy told 4BR: "Every year brings new challenges, but we are grateful for the superb support we get from loyal sponsors and the 250 members of the very special 'Valaisia Club'.

In May, more than 100 supporters made the trip to Utrecht for the European Championships and are a key part of our success.

We are now working hard to defend our Swiss National title in Montreux and looking towards 2019 when we will once again proudly represent Switzerland at the European Championships in our home country and at the British Open in the UK."