EBBA has announced a number of exciting additional events that will take place at the European Championships in Stavanger.
Tickets for the events can be booked on www.musikkorps.no/ebbc2008.
Limited tickets
EBBA state that there are still a few available tickets for the European Conductors Competition and Final, the European Party and the Farewell Concert.
There are however a limited numbers of tickets available for the European Brass Band Championships Friday May 2nd and Saturday May 3rd.
The Grand Gala Concert is already sold out.
Hotels
If you need to book a hotel for your stay, please visit www.regionstavanger.com. On this website you will find a complete list of Stavanger hotels.
Conductors Competition Final:
The Conductors Final will take place on Thursday 1st May when the best young European conductors will gather at the Atlantic Hall, Stavanger.
The three finalists will conduct Sola Brass Band in the following works:
Arthur Bliss: Belmont Variations
Eric Ball: Kensington Concerto
Gilbert Vinter: Salute to Youth
EBBA received 25 applications for the European Conductors Competition and the following 17 participants have been selected by the jury to compete in the first rounds of the competition.
Mathias Charton — France
Mirga Grazinyté — Lithuania
Armin Renggli — Switzerland
Dominik Koch — Germany
Bjørn E. Breistein — Norway
Hendrik Kolk van de — Netherland
Tristan Uth — Germany
Jacob Vilhelm Larsen — Denmark
Jonas Rogne — Norway
Michael Bach — Switzerland
Rafael Agulló-albors — Spain
Oliver Neuhaus — Switzerland
Mathias Wehr — Germany
Kelly Crandell — USA
Christian Mathis — Austria
Bede Williams — New Zealand
Manuela Gruber – Austria
The European Youth Brass Band (EYBB) will play in this concert, and will be together all week to play several concerts conducted by Reid Gilje of Norway.
Farewell Concert:
The Farewell Concert will round off the week on Sunday 3rd May at lunch time.
Brass Band Willebroek and the European Youth Brass Band will perform in concert at the Atlantic Hall, Stavanger.
We are really excited about this part of the concert. Grimethorpe is, by any standard, one of the best brass bands in the world, and we can guarantee an extraordinary musical experienceKarl Ove Midtbø
Gala Concert
The Gala Concert on May 3rd will consist of two sections, featuring some of the very best brass music old and new.
The first half will be filled with classic pieces of brass music, presented by Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
The repertoire was voted on by visitors on the web pages of the Norwegian Band Federation (NMF) and hopefully guarantees the audience some of the biggest hits of this genre, promising something for everybody.
Karl Ove Midtbø, head of music in NMF, explained to 4BR: "We are really excited about this part of the concert. Grimethorpe is, by any standard, one of the best brass bands in the world, and we can guarantee an extraordinary musical experience."
He added: "The band will play pieces from the ‘Golden Era’ of brass band music, and create a historic context to the concert. The Grimethorpe band is especially suited for this task."
The host band, Stavanger Brass, will present the second half, with soloist Nils Landgren on trombone.
"Stavanger Brass Band has had a long and productive history of collaborating with Nils Landgren," explained Svein Olav Simonsen from Stavanger Band.
"This part of the concert will give Landgren and SBB ample opportunities to do what they do best – entertain," Simonsen promises with a smile. "Nobody does it better."
Prize Ceremony:
The evening will be concluded with the prize ceremony, announcing the 2008 European Champion.
"This is the moment everybody’s waiting for," said Ulf Rosenberg, President of European Brass Band Association.
"Working towards a contest like this demand a lot of work and dedication. Waiting for the announcement will be hard on a lot of bands, but this is part of the excitement."
Ulf Rosenberg added: "This part of the evening will be no contest, just enjoyment. The party is called Brass Night for a reason. It’s time to relax after some heavy days of contests and a lot of pressure for everybody involved, and so Brass Night will be just for fun."
