The Scottish Brass Band Association (SBBA) and the European Brass Band Association (EBBA) have announced that the newly crowned Norwegian champion, Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag, will perform a short concert prior to the exciting European Youth Band Contest, which will take place in Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 4th May.

Exciting contribution

SBBA Development Manager Andrew Duncan told 4BR: "It’s with great pleasure that we can announce this exciting contribution.

The event will combine a farewell concert for the 2014 European Youth Brass Band under MD Russell Gray and Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag, which will help us attract a capacity audience for the new European Youth Band Contest, which will commence immediately after the concert."

Assistance

Eikanger-Bjørsvik Band Manager Viggo Bjørge added: "We enjoyed a great experience last year, when we closed the championship with a joint concert with Cory in Oslo.

When we heard that our local youth band would take part in the Youth Contest we contacted SBBA to see if we could be of any assistance in supporting the event.

We learned from the TV docu-soap series we made last year that the young players really enjoyed having a peek inside the big bands’ engine rooms, so we aim to give them that, not by playing heavy test pieces, but by attempting to bring the house down with an entertaining programme that shows that light music can be as serious but as enjoyable as the test-pieces."

When we heard that our local youth band would take part in the Youth Contest we contacted SBBA to see if we could be of any assistance in supporting the eventViggo Bjorge of Eikanger Bjorsvik

Support

EBBA General Secretary Carsten Hering Nielsen is very pleased that Eikanger will support the event in this way.

"I’m sure it will bring in a great crowd for both the concert and the contest later in the afternoon," he said.

"Furthermore, we have been working on an ideal way to give the 2014 European Youth Band the opportunity to present themselves in a farewell concert.

This seems to be solved elegantly by SBBA in arranging this opening concert as the culmination of a week of hard work for the EYBB."