Haut-de-France Brass Band conducted by Luc Vertommen has claimed the 17th French National Championship title in thrilling fashion at the Theatre Charles Dullin in Le Grand-Quevilly, Rouen in Normandy.

The band secured the honour for the seventh time in their history, as well as their place at the 2023 European Brass Band Championships in Malmö, Sweden, with two outstanding performances of the set-work, 'Dynasty' by Peter Graham and their own-choice selection, 'Sinfonietta N°2: Quatre Impressions' by Pierre-Antoine Savoyat.

Hat-trick

It enabled them to make it a hat-trick of wins at the contests and gave Luc Vertommen his fourth French National title with the band's percussion team taking the 'Best Section' award, as they beat rivals and former champion, Paris Brass Band.

Conducted by Laurent Douvre they pushed the winners closely with their performances which included their own-choice selection of 'Crazy Twenties' by Thierry Deleruelle.

Thanks

Sharing the news of their latest victory on their Facebook page, a delighted Haut-de-France stated: "Many thanks to Luc Vertommen, our Music Director for guiding us always towards greater excellence and to our 'Best' percussionists.

Our thanks also to Pierre-Antoine Savoyat for his incredible creation. What a pleasure it was to have played it at the event."

They added: "It was great to play again and congratulations to all who took part. We thank our family and friends for their support especially in the last few weeks and to the city of Marquette-lez-Lille, le Conservatoire and its director Manu Sorolla for welcoming us for more than a year to rehearse.

The Confédération Musicale de France and its Brass Band commission did a fantastic job in organising the event."

Aeolus victory

A former top section winner in Aeolus Brass Band claimed the First Division title. The band from Paris won the first four French National titles but has not competed at the Championships since 2017.

Led by MD, Benoit Fourreau, their high-quality performances of the set-work, 'Sinfonietta No. 3' by Etienne Crausaz and the ambitious choice of 'Extreme Make-Over' Johan de Meij, proved good enough to repel the strong challenge of defending champion, Douai Brass Band.

Conducted by Olivier Degardin, they also produced a brace of fine renditions of the test-piece and their own-choice selection of Edward Gregson's 'Of Distant Memories'. The band's principal cornet player Valentin Sergent took the 'Best Soloist' award.

Close behind came third placed Brassage Brass Band conducted by Benoit Dehaine, who performed 'The Torchbearer' by Peter Graham as their own-choice selection.

It is understood that all three band will now be promoted to the Honneurs Section for the next National Championship event in St Etienne in 2023.

Section titles

Les Coniques Brass Band conducted by Antoine Fréart was the sole entrant in the Second Section but still produced excllent accounts of the set-work and their own-choice of 'Lions of Legends' by Thierry Deleruyelle, although there were with no entrants in the Third.

The Fourth Division title went to Brass Band du Laonnais led Geoffroy Camille who gave two well delivered accounts of the set-work and their own-choice of 'Lord Tullamore' by Carl Wittrock to finish ahead of Brass Band en Seine who performed 'Cry of the Falcon' by Kevin Houben as their own-choice selection.

Results:
Honneurs Section:

Test Piece: Dynasty (Peter Graham)
Adjudicators: Glenn Van Looy (President), Kevin Houben), Anno Appelo

1. Haut-de-France Brass Band (Luc Vertommen): 97
2. Paris Brass Band (Laurent Douvre): 95

Best Section: Percussion (Hauts-de-France Brass Band)

First Division:

Test Piece: Sinfonietta No. 3 (Etienne Crausaz)
Adjudicators: Glenn Van Looy (President), Kevin Houben), Anno Appelo

1. Aeolus Brass Band (Benoit Fourreau): 92
2. Douai Brass Band (Olivier Degardin): 91.5
3. Brassage Brass Band (Benoit Dehaine): 90

Best Soloist: Valentin Sergent (Douai Brass Band)

Second Division:

Test Piece: Machu Picchu (Thibaut Bruniaux)
Adjudicators: Glenn Van Looy (President), Kevin Houben), Anno Appelo

1. Les Coniques Brass Band (Antoine Fréart): 91.5

Third Division:

Test Piece: Olympus (Philip Harper)

No entries

Fourth Division:

Test Piece: Neverland (Christopher Bond)
Adjudicators: Glenn Van Looy (President), Kevin Houben), Anno Appelo

1. Brass Band du Laonnais (Geoffroy Camille): 86.8
2. Brass Band en Seine (Willy Bracourd): 85.2