The 25th Lithuanian Wind Orchestra Championships were recently held at the Marijampole Cultural Center in Suduva where over 1,000 performers from 32 ensembles from various areas of the country competed in five different categories of competition.

LT Brass win

The Lithuanian Brass Bands Association (LBBA) has been an integral part of the event since its inception, with its Category E Championship Section contest being won again by Brass LT, which comprises students and alumni of the Department of Wind and Percussion of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LMTA) led by Remigijus Vilys.

The band is now looking forward to competing at the European Brass Band Championships in Stavanger where they will be conducted by Bjorn Breistein.

The award was announced at the end of two Gala Concerts over the two day event, the latter of which featured guest soloist Belgian tenor horn star Tim de Maeseneer who was accompanied by Sklepuini Brass Band for 'Beyond the Paradox' conducted by Rokas Podelis.

At the end of the Championship the concert featured Brass LT with conductors Bjorn Breistein (Norway) and Remigijus Vilys and soloists Liudas Mikalauskas, Egidijus Bavikinas, Assoc. Prof. Laimonas Masevicius, Ugnė Tamosietytė, Leonardas Butkus, Bernardas Butkus, Ricardas Jankelevicius, Martis Petkus, Kristijonas Sakalauskas and others.

Golden Bird

Brass LT was also presented with the prestigious 'Golden Bird' Award by the Lithuanian National Cultural Centre to mark their contest success. It was presented by the Director of the Lithuanian National Cultural Centre, Saulius Liausa to mark the quality of the band's artistic creativity and significance.

Brass LT was also presented with the prestigious 'Golden Bird' Award by the Lithuanian National Cultural Centre to mark their contest success4BR

Category victories

The winner of the Category D event for brass bands was Brass Band Sklepucini led by Vilmantas Vapsva, who will be representing the nation in the Premier Section of the European Youth Brass Band Championships in Stavanger in May.

The winner of Category C for brass bands was Brass Band Aukstyn led by Remigijus Vilys, who will represent the nation in the Development Section of the European Youth Championships in Stavanger.

They were also led by Dutch conductor Piet Visser who also celebrated 30 years of association with the development of Lithuanian banding this year.