The 42nd Dutch National Championships will take place in Utrecht on the weekend of Friday 3rd & Saturday 4th November at the wonderful TivoliVredenburg complex in Utrecht.

There 43 bands taking part in the five sections of competition with the action kicking off on Friday evening with the Fourth Division (3.00pm local time), followed by the Third Division. The results will be announced later in the evening.

The event is excellently run by the NBK organisers led by new Chairperson Ale Nicolai, and although there is no live broadcast, the performances will be recorded by brasspass.tv and released on Monday 6th November. The respected CU Brass website will also be covering the event.

Friday and Saturday

Saturday opens at 9.30am with the Second Division, followed by the First Division. The results for those sections will also be announced before the Championship Division which is due to start around 6.30pm.

Following the announcement of the Championship Division results there will be plenty of enjoyment to be had into the small hours of the morning with the NBK Afterparty.

Set Works

Thierry Deleruyelle's exciting 'Sand and Stars' will test the Championship Division contenders this year, with the new champion being invited to represent the nation at the 2025 European Championship in Stavanger.

The new champion will also receive a prize package worth Euros 3,500 with additional podium and individual prizes in each section.

As previously reported on 4BR, the First Division competitors will be faced by a new commission entitled, 'Afterlife' by Belgian composer Stijn Aertgeerts.

It reflects on his impressions of death and the unearthly domain, and the way musical themes have been used to infer this based on development of the famous 'Dies Irae' motif famously used by Berlioz in 'Symphonie Fantastique'.

Philip Sparke's 'Lakeland Variations' inspired by the region of Seeland (Lakeland) in the north-west part of Switzerland and its three lakes of Morat, Neuchatel and Bienne is the Second Division set-work. It was most recently heard at National Championship of Great Britain Second Section Final.

Lord and Mankind

Meanwhile, the Third Division bands will be faced with 'The Day of the Lord' by Steven Ponsford.

It takes its inspiration from biblical passages the prophecy of the last days. It brings elements of the chorale 'The Judgment Day' with the hymnals 'I See the King of Glory' and 'Salvation belongs to God' with reference to the text 'The sun shall be turned to darkness, the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes'.

A brand-new work from the composer Zoran Rosendahl will test the Fourth Division bands.

'The Pillars of Mankind' has been commissioned by the NBK Foundation and is dedicated to the victims of the earthquakes of February 2023 in southern Turkey.

The work follows the storyline of an episode in the controversial Netflix series 'Ancient Apocalypse' by journalist Graham Hancock set in Gobekli Tepe.

Challenging works

Speaking about the works, the NBK Foundation Chairperson Ale Nicolai said: "These are a wonderful list of five challenging compositions for both musicians and audience.

We are proud that, in addition to works by established composers, we have been able to give two young musicians in Zoran Rosendahl and Stijn Aertgeerts the opportunity to write new repertoire on behalf of the NBK Foundation."

These are a wonderful list of five challenging compositions for both musicians and audienceNBK Foundation Chairperson Ale Nicolai

Championship Division:

Saturday 4th November
Test Piece: Sand and Stars (Thierry Deleruyelle)
Adjudicators: Sheona Wade, Florent Didier, Frans Violet

Altena Brass (Ward De Ketelaere)
Brass Band Limburg (Renato Meli)
Brass Band Schoonhoven (Erik Janssen)
Brassband De Waldsang (Rieks van der Velde)
Brassband Rijnmond (Luc Vertommen)
De Bazuin Oenkerk (Jaap Musschenga)
Provinciale Brassband Groningen (Gerk Huisma)
Soli Brass (Anne van den Berg)

First Division:

Saturday 4th November
Test Piece: Afterlife (Stijn Aertgeerts)
Adjudicators: Sheona Wade, Florent Didier, Frans Violet

Brassband Amersfoort (Vincent Verhage)
Brassband Breukelen (Erik Kluin)
Brassband Merum (Maurice Daemen)
Excelsior (Rieks van der Velde)
Gloria Dei (Gerk Huisma)
Kunst naar Kracht (Pieter Koster)
Oefening en Uitspanning (Ralf Schreurs)
Pro Rege (Anne van den Berg)

Second Division:

Saturday 4th November
Test Piece: Lakeland Variations (Philip Sparke)
Adjudicators: Katrina Marzella, Ludovic Neurohr, Klaas van der Woude

Backum Brass (Chris Derikx)
Brass Band Schoonhoven B (Joop Nijholt)
David (Wilbert Zwier)
De Bazuin Oenkerk B (Richard Visser)
De Lofklank (Koen van der Molen)
Euphonia (Gerben Pol)
Excelsior (Gijs Heusinkveld)
Gereformeerde Brassband Groningen (Jan Werkman)
Looft Den Heer (Gijs Heusinkveld)
Martini Brassband (Rieks van der Velde)

Third Division:

Friday 3rd November
Test Piece: The Day of the Lord (Steven Ponsford)
Adjudicators: Katrina Marzella, Ludovic Neurohr, Klaas van der Woude

Advendo (Stefan de Groot)
Apollo (Piet Visser)
Blaast de Bazuin (Chris van der Veen)
Brass Band Nuenen (Raf Van Looveren)
De Nije Bazun (Jaap Wils)
Greidebrass (Paulus de Jong)
Heman (Geert Jan Kroon)
Hosannah (Jeroen Oosterwijk)
Immanuel (Jan Werkman)
Kunst en Vriendschap (Henk van Loon)

Fourth Division:

Friday 3rd November
Test Piece: The Pillars of Mankind (Zoran Rosendahl)
Adjudicators: Katrina Marzella, Ludovic Neurohr, Klaas van der Woude

Bernlef (Theun van Leijen)
Brassband Westersweach (Reimer Jan Rondaan)
Ere Zij God (Jochem Hoekstra)
Halleluja (Ido Gerard Kempenaar)
Koperensemble De Waldsang (Martijn Oostra)
Soli Deo Gloria (Martijn Oostra)
UDI (Marco Middelberg)