Fritze wins BrookWright Prize
The much awaited results of the inaugural BrookWright International Brass Ensemble Composer Competition 2021 (IBECC) have been announced. Receiving the Overall Prize, awarded by the judges James Curnow, Dr. Liz Lane and Paul Hindmarsh, is American composer Gregory Fritze. His work ‘Cool Bop’, for brass quintet, is written in the style of the ‘Cool’ jazz era of the 1950s in New York City, and was unanimously decided as the winner by the judges. Gregory wins 0 US cash, a license to the programme NotePerformer and publication of his work through BrookWright Music.
Winning the Public Commendation Prize, which was voted for by viewers, was English composer Karl Whelan, whose work ‘The Elusive Hedgehog’ proved particularly popular. Karl wins 0 cash and will also have his piece published by BrookWright in the near future.
The competition received a remarkable 92 from around the world, the same number as BrookWright’s Brass Band Composition Contest of last year. Follow-the-score videos for each of the five finalists can be viewed at:
Cool Bop (Gregory Fritze): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEIYMs2TIlY
The Elusive Hedgehog (Karl Whelan): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlqbO6UBZJU
Heraldry for Horn Quartet (Alexander Harris): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEb7MEu69oU
Quintet for Brass (Joseph Santo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4jFFsavZsM
Prelude (after Duke) (Isaac Smith): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lC-sV7YVJI
Speaking about the contest, Dr. Liz Lane commented: “It was a pleasure to be involved with the competition again this year and to work alongside Jim and Paul on the panel. We all agreed that the winning entry stood out for a number of reasons; for me this included quality of writing, musical interest and overall cohesion. It is great to know that the piece will be performed and published, with the opportunity to become more widely recognised in the future by both players and audience. Thank you to Andrew Wainwright and Brookwright Music for such an excellent venture!”
Meanwhile Paul Hindmarsh revealed: “For more years than I care to recall, working through freshly minted music, before the ink is dry so to speak, has been one of the most rewarding and illuminating ‘jobs’ in my professional life - privilege rather than job is probably a more appropriate description. The standard of submission in this second BrookWright competition was consistently high, with entries dominated by composers in the US and UK. My one disappointment was the lack of submissions from female composers. I was delighted with our final five, which we all agreed on with very little debate. That the winning work comes from the hand of a seasoned professional and distinguished teacher was amply evident in the refinement of the writing and the precision of characterisation. Congratulations to Gregory Fritze and indeed to the composers of all 92 entries.”
James Curnow commented, “Once again it has been my privilege to serve on the panel of judges with my esteemed colleagues, Liz Lane and Paul Hindmarsh, for the Brookwright International Ensemble Composition Competition. The extremely high standard of entries for the competition made the listening and study of these compositions a most enjoyable experience and the selection of the top five winners was an extremely challenging experience. Congratulations Andrew, BrookWright Music and all 92 contestants on an incredibly successful and rewarding competition.”
BrookWright’s owner Andrew Wainwright concluded by saying, “I would like to offer my congratulations to our competition winners Gregory Fritze and Karl Whelan, and also our other finalists, Isaac Smith, Joseph Santo and Alexander Harris. In addition, well done to all the composers and arrangers who submitted such a wide range of excellent entries! I would like to sincerely thank our judges, James Curnow, Dr Liz Lane and Paul Hindmarsh for all their work in adjudicating the competition. Last but not least, I would like to recognise our sponsors for the competition – Christopher Bond Music, David Daws Financial Services Ltd., Besson, John Lawes, NotePerformer, room4groups, Stratos and World of Brass.”
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