European Soloist Competition finalists announced

19 performers will head to Linz to try and win the 10th European Soloist title.

The event is the first competition of the Championships to be held in Linz this year

Thursday, 12 March 2026

The European Brass Band Association (EBBA) has confirmed that 19 performers from ten countries will take part in the first round of the 10th European Soloist Competition.

After close analysis of 34 video entries, the first round participants were chose to go forward to perform an 8-minute programme of music to be held at the Brucknerhaus in Linz on Monday 20th April.

Second round and Final

Eight performers will go through to the second round on Tuesday 21st April, also at the same Middle Hall venue.

Three finalists will subsequently be chosen to participate in the final which will be held on Thursday 23rd April in the Brucknerhaus. They will be accompanied on a major work by Brass Band Fribourg from Switzerland.

Traditional and contemporary

4BR was informed that the EBBA Music Commission has chosen the works to be performed in the second round and final to maintain a balance between the traditional and contemporary.

They stated: "We have chosen slightly different types of pieces -more traditional in the second round, while for the final we have actively looked for newer repertoire."

They added: "Through our choices, we hope to introduce new, high-quality music to a new generation of soloists while at the same time giving the candidates fairer conditions, as no soloist may have played the piece many times before."

High standard

Music Commission Chairperson, Benjamin Haemhouts added: "The standard was very high, and the entrants should all be very proud of their performances. We feel that the future of brass and percussion playing, and of brass bands in Europe, is in very good hands."

First Round competitors:

Bernardas Butkus (Euphonium) — Lithuania
Leonardo D'Azzena (Cornet) — Italy
Ibai de Miguel (Euphonium) — Spain
Lovis Erche (Tuba) — Germany
Daniel Fleischmann (Tenor trombone) — Austria
Simon Gabriel (Cornet) — Switzerland
Gerbrich Greidanus (Euphonium) — The Netherlands
Niklas Hinterholzer (Tenor trombone) — Austria
Daniel Hohm (Euphonium) — Germany
Jovita Kasperaviciute (Euphonium) — Lithuania
Julian Koller (Marimba) — Austria
Florian KrogsÃ¦ter (Tenor horn) — Norway
Jisse Kuipers (Tenor trombone) — The Netherlands
Cavanna Lubin (Tenor horn) — France
Joshua Parkhill (Tenor Trombone) — Scotland
Emil Rademacher KrogsÃ¦ter (Tuba) — Norway
Paul Tiefenthaler (Bass trombone) — Austria
Anke Verboven (Tenor horn) — Belgium
Viktorija Volodova (Tenor horn) — Lithuania

The standard was very high, and the entrants should all be very proud of their performances. We feel that the future of brass and percussion playing, and of brass bands in Europe, is in very good handsBenjamin Haemhouts

Concerto Final repertoire:

Cornet: Concerto for Cornet (Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen)
Tenor horn: 'Three Gods' Concerto (Edward Gregson)
Trombone: 'Scene Change' Concerto (Oliver Waespi)
Bass trombone: Bass Trombone Concerto (Derek Bourgeois)
Euphonium: Venice (Judith Bingham)
Tuba: Concerto for Tuba 'Amaia' (Ricardo Molla, arr. Tommy Tynan)
Marimba: Concerto for Marimba (Paul Creston)

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