Euro Victory for Willebroek
Congratulations to Brass Band Willebroek on winning the 2025 European Brass Band Championships. Willebroek made a significant impression in Friday’s set-work competition, with adjudicators Isabelle Ruf Weber, Bert Van Thienen and Corsin Tuor awarding the performance a near perfect 99 points. Frans Violet and the Belgian Band consolidated their position with a European premier performance of ‘The Forest for the Trees’, composed by the band’s bass trombonist Wim Bex. Whilst the own choice judges Frode Amundsen, Michael Bach and Jan de Haan awarded it third place, the points total when combined with yesterday’s efforts was enough to give Willebroek a well-earned 2-point lead over runners-up Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag. To complete the victory, the band’s solo euphonium was also awarded the Best Soloist prize.
A full retrospective of the event will appear in the next issue of Brass Band World Magazine. Full results below:
Championship Section:
Adjudicators:
Set Work: Isabelle Ruf Weber; Bert Van Thienen; Corsin Tuor
Own Choice: Frode Amundsen; Michael Bach; Jan de Haan
Set Work/Own Choice = Total
1. Brassband Willebroek (Frans Violet): 99/96 = 195
2. Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag (Florent Didier): 95/98 = 193
3. Valaisia Brass Band (Arsene Duc): 97/95 = 192
4. Cory Band (Philip Harper): 94/97 = 191
5. the cooperation band (Katrina Marzella-Wheeler): 98/91 = 189*
6. Brass Band Treize Etoiles (Frederic Theodoloz): 96/93 = 189
7. Hauts-de-France Brass Band (Luc Vertommen): 92/92 = 184
8. Brass Band Oberosterreich (Gunther Reisegger): 88/94 = 182
9. Lyngby-Taarbaek Band (Gert Skovlod Hattesen): 93/87 = 180
10. Gota Brass Band (Michael Thomsen): 91/88 = 179*
11. Brassband Rijnmond (Paul Holland): 90/89 = 179
12. Foden's Band (Russell Gray): 89/90 = 179
13. Italian Brass Band (Giuseppe Saggio): 87/85 = 172
14. Brass LT (Bjorn Breistein): 85/86 = 171
15. Brass Band Regensburg (Thomas Freiss): 86/84 = 170
*Higher mark on set work takes precedence
Best Soloist: Euphonium (Brass Band Willebroek)
Challenge Section:
Adjudicators: Bert van Thienen; Allan Withington
Set Test: Embracing Duality (Ingebjorg Vilhelmsen)
1. Brass Band Uberetsch (Johann Finatzer): 96
2. Downshire Brass (Prof Michael Alcorn): 93
3. Gjesdal Brass Band (Jonas Skartveit Rogne): 90
Best Instrumentalist: Euphonium (Brass Band Uberetsch)
