Euro trio ready for Concerto final

Thibaut De Bondt, Simon Gabriel and Jonas Florin Elmiger will give their Concerto performances in their bid to claim the European Soloist Competition title in Malmo on Wednesday evening.

The three players will now perform their Concertos in the final

Tuesday, 02 May 2023

A trio of talented young players will compete for the 2023 European Soloist Competition title in Malmo on Wednesday evening after coming through a high-quality semi-final.

Impressing

Belgian baritone player Thibaut De Bondt, cornetist Simon Gabriel from Switzerland and marimba performer Jonas Florin Elmiger from Switzerland will now give concerto performances accompanied by the Concord Brass Band at the Palladium Malmo (7.00pm) after impressing the adjudication panel of Glenn van Looy, Camilla Soderstrom Tveit and Simone Rebello.

First prize is 1500 Euro plus 1000 Euro towards further study or solo appearance, with podium prizes of 1000 Euro plus 500 Euro and 500 Euro plus 250 Euro. In addition, there is a further 'Band Prize' of 500 Euro chosen by the Concord Band and an 'Audience Prize' of 500 Euro

Finalists

Thibaut De Bondt is a third-year student at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. He started on cornet before switching to baritone.

He plays solo baritone with Brass Band Willebroek and is tutored by Kevin Van Giel. In 2022 he participated in the Gran Premio Povoletto where he came runner-up.

Cornet player Simon Gabriel is a member of Jugendmusik S-chanf, the wind quartet MOTRE, youth wind orchestra GraubÃ¼nden, Alpina Brassband Innsbruck and GraubÃ¼nden Brassband as well as being a soloist with the Jungesinfonieorchester GraubÃ¼nden.

He has won a number of solo prizes and in 2021 and 2022 won first prize at the Swiss Solo Championships.

Jonas Florin Eliger plays marimba. Since 2013 he has been taught by Prof. Raphael Christen and in 2019 started his studies in classical percussion at the Zurich University of Arts.

With the ensemble Schappe Percussion he became Swiss Champion in 2014 and 2017 and won the first prize with honorable mention twice as a duo at the Schweizerischer Jugendmusikwettbewerb. In 2020 he won the final of the prestigious Swiss Prix Musique and was an age prize winner at the international marimba competition 'Marimba Festiva' in Nuremberg.

He has already played in different ensembles as well as the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the 21st Century Orchestra.

Become a supporter and help make our future secure.

4barsrest continues to be a proudly independent voice. There are no paywalls to overcome to be able to enjoy what we do to keep our journalism at the heart of the brass banding world. Support us with a one-off donation or subscribe from just £2.50 per month.

Support us