The 10th French National Brass Band Championship run under the auspices of the Confédération Musicale de France (CMF) took place in at the Espace Les Vikings in Yvetot last weekend, where the emerging musical excellence and strength in depth of the nation’s banding movement was on show in each of its four sections.

Television coverage

The event gained national television coverage with a report shown on the Francetv 3 station.

The adjudication team of jury president Frans Violet, Marieka Gray and Marc Lys enjoyed plenty of fine music making — especially in the Championship (Honneurs) Section, where Paris Brass Band directed by Florent Didier made it a hat trick of wins to claim their place at the 2015 European Championship in Freiburg in Germany.

Narrow victory

Their performance of the former European Championship set work, ‘Vita Aeterna Variations’ by Alexander Comitas saw them gain a narrow single point victory over former winners Brass Band Nord Pas-de-Calais and Aeolus Brass.

Paris Brass Band directed by Florent Didier made it a hat trick of wins to claim their place at the 2015 European Championship in Freiburg in Germany4BR

Results:

Division Honneur:
Test Piece : Vita Aeterna Variations (Alexander Comitas)

1. Paris Brass Band (Florent Didier) — 93pts
2. Brass Band Nord Pas-de-Calais (Luc Vertommen) — 92pts
3. Aeolus Brass Band (Bastien Still) — 91pts

Division Excellence:
Test piece : The Essence of Time (Peter Graham)

1. Brass Band de Douai (Olivier Dégardin) — 83pts
2. Brassage Brass Band (N/K) — 82pts

First Division:
Test Piece : Oceans (Goff Richards)

1. Brass Band de Lyon (Thomas Pesquet) — 91pts
2. Brass Band des Hauts de Flandres (N/K) — 90pts
3. Orchestre de Cuivres d’Amiens (N/K) — 83pts

Second Division:
Test piece : Music for a Festival (Philip Sparke)

1. Brass Band en Seine (N/K) — 85pts
2. Brass Band de la Côte Picarde (N/K) — 81pts
3. Brass Band Concordia (N/K) — 73pts

Third Division:
Test Piece: A Malvern Suite (Philip Sparke)

1. Brass Band Océane (Pascal Piedefer) – 79pts