The European Brass Band Association (EBBA) has announced that Sola Brass Band, the Insimul Ensemble and Stavanger Band will perform as part of the 8th European Conductors Competition to be held as part of the 2025 European Championships in Stavanger.

Young conductors from across Europe are invited to apply for a place in the competition which is being run by the Norwegian Band Federation (NMF) and local organisers.

There will be prizes of EUR 2500, 1500 and 1000, as well as a Band Prize of EUR 500 and an Audience Prize of EUR 500.

Competition rounds

The Norwegian First Division Sola Brass Band will work with the first-round candidates on 'Partita' (Philip Wilby), 'Sinfonietta No. 3' (Etienne Crausaz) and 'As a Glow' (Ludovic Neurohr).

The contemporary ensemble Insimul which consists of professional musicians from the Stavanger area will perform alongside the successful second round candidates.

The sinfonietta regularly play at festivals, including the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival, Aalborg Opera Festival, and Brass wind Festival. They will work on 'Nonet No.2' (H374) by Bohuslav Martinu and 'Sinfonietta Op.1' by Benjamin Britten.

Former Norwegian and Siddis champion Stavanger Band will perform with the successful finalists.

The works to be performed are: 'Fraternity' (Thierry Deleruyelle), 'Catharsis' (Kjetil Djonne) and 'A Lowry Sketchbook' (Philip Wilby).

Competition schedule

The First Round will take place on Sunday 4th May at the University of Stavanger — Faculty of Performing Arts

The Second Round will follow on Tuesday 6th May at the Kuppelhallen, Stavanger Konserthus

The Final will take place on Thursday 8th May at the Kuppelhallen, Stavanger Konserthus

Rules and invitation:

Applicants must have been born on or after 1st January 1990 and are native to, or resident in EBBA member countries. The closing date for entries is 15th January 2025.

https://ebba.eu.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/EBBA-ECC-2025-Rules-and-regulations-19-September.pdf