'Concerto Grosso for Brass Band and Orchestra' by Gavin Higgins has gained further critical acclaim following its recent Norwegian premiere in Stavanger.

The South Bank Sky Arts Classical Music and Royal Philharmonic Society Award winning work was performed by the Stavanger Symfoniorkester alongside Stavanger Brass Band on at the city's major Konserthus venue.

It was conducted by Tianyi Lu in a programme that also featured the orchestra performing Rimsky Korsakov's 'Scheherazade'.

Remarkable

"It was a remarkable concert — a wonderful musical experience," Band Manager Anders Rydberg told 4BR.

"The reception gained was simply fantastic and showed that the collaboration between the city's leading musical ensembles was something that caught the imagination of the audience."

Commitment

Anders revealed that the success followed the wholehearted commitment and preparation for the performance from the band and orchestra.

"We enjoyed visits from Ian Porthouse who worked on the piece with Tredegar Band for its Proms world premiere as well as Michael Thomson, as well as enjoying several rehearsals with the orchestra and conductor Tianyi Lu.

It gave everyone a greater insight into Gavin Higgins's incredible work — and the amazing sound world that it embraces."

Connection

The connection between the ensembles was further strengthened with Stavanger Symfoniorkester's principal trumpet, Frank Braafhart leading from the principal cornet chair with the band, whilst following the performance the players joined each other for a celebration drink.

"Frank is both the principal trumpet and principal cornet, so for him to lead the performance in this way was hugely significant," Anders added.

"The orchestra was so supportive of our involvement and had huge admiration for Gavin's work. The audience reaction also told us so much too. This is the third time Stavanger has linked up with these types of collaborations, and following the response, I hope it won't be the last."

It gave everyone a greater insight into Gavin Higgins's incredible work — and the amazing sound world that it embracesStavanger Band

Epic

Gavin Higgins was also in Stavanger to hear the performance and was equally thrilled.

"It was epic — an amazing performance from the band and orchestra led brilliantly by Tianyi Lu who had such an understanding of my music.

They amount of time and energy put into my music paid the richest of dividends, and my thanks got to everyone who gave such a commitment to the project from the outset".

He added: "It shows that these collaborations are so important and why they make such an impression. My thanks for an incredible experience. Let's do it again!"