European Own Choice pieces revealed

The own-choice selections that will be performed by the competing bands at the forthcoming European Championships in Montreux have been announced by EBBA. As always audiences will need to wait until the event itself to find out which band will be playing what piece in both the Challenge and Championship Sections on Saturday 27th April.

 
Commenting on the choices, Paul Hindmarsh, Chair of the EBBA Music Commission said: "Own-choice day at the Europeans is one of the special times in the brass band calendar, where high-octane virtuoso performance is guaranteed alongside some inspiring repertoire.
I'm particularly pleased to see in this year's varied selection that bands have been delving in the archive to freshen up some significant turning points in the evolution of the band test piece — two performances of Gilbert Vinter's vibrant 'Spectrum', Derek Bourgeois' incisive and witty 'Concerto Grosso', Johan de Meij's wacky'Extreme Make-Over' of Tchaikovsky, Jan Van der Roost's ever popular 'From Ancient Times'and Philip Sparke's expansive soundscape 'Music of the Spheres'.
 
"It will be fascinating to hear how these works will sound against crop of truly imaginative and stylistically varied new pieces that have impressed so many in recent contest seasons.
We also have two opportunities to hear Peter Graham's latest test piece, 'The 39th Parallel', used at the New Zealand championships, and after 'Destination Moon'in Ostend (2017), the enigmatic pen of Paul Raphael has produced a sequel, 'Explorers of the Moon'."
 
Championship Section:
A Brussels Requiem (Bert Appermont)
Concerto for Brass Band (Roland Szentpali)
Concerto Grosso (Derek Bourgeois)
Explorers on the Moon (Paul Raphael)
Extreme Make-Over (Johan de Meij)
From Ancient Times (Jan Van der Roost)
Glass (Simon Dobson)
King Kong on Rue Igor-Stravinsky (Paul McGhee)
Music of the Spheres (Philip Sparke)
Old Licks Bluesed Up (Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen)
The 39th Parallel (2x) (Peter Graham)
Vita Aeterna Variations (Alexander Comitas)
 
Challenge Section:
Sinfonietta No. 3 (Etienne Crausaz)
A London Overture (Philip Sparke)
Essay (Edward Gregson)
Spectrum (2x) (Gilbert Vinter)

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