Selmer Simonsen has announced that he will not be renewing his contract as Resident Conductor with Stavanger Brass Band for the 2009/2010 season.

Fantastic journey

Selmer told 4BR: "I have been with Stavanger effectively since I graduated from Salford in 2000 and have been delighted with the development of the band over the past 9 years.

"We have had a fantastic journey together with 4 Norwegian titles and 2 runners-up since 2003, 2nd place in the European Championships in Birmingham, 2nd place in Brass in Concert in 2008 and tours to Lithuania, Japan and the United States being the major highlights."

Selmer added: "Currently the band is ranked 7th in the World Rankings which is the highest ranking ever achieved by a Norwegian Band and Stavanger is now established as an important player on the international stage."

The decision to take a break from Stavanger was only taken in the past few days and I have not yet had time to consider what I want to do nextSelmer Simonsen

Year off

Simonsen also had a year off in 2004/2005 to continue his studies at Salford and feels a break will be good for both parties.

He added: "For Stavanger it will be good to work with new conductors and see new faces but I hope to return in the future and to still be working with the band 10 years from now.

"In the meantime the break will give me the capacity to work with more bands, get new impulses and work in different arenas with different players.

"Through my partnership with Stavanger I have developed my own systematic methodology of band training and improvement which has also proved succesful in my work with other bands including Kirkintilloch, Krohnegen, Ila, Sola, Molde and Oslofjord."

Immediate future

With regards his immediate future Selmer told 4BR: "The decision to take a break from Stavanger was only taken in the past few days and I have not yet had time to consider what I want to do next.

"There have been several Norwegian bands who have expressed an interest and I am also interested in working with other British bands. I have enjoyed working with Kirkintilloch immensely and will be preparing them over the next few weeks for the Scottish Championships. Obviously the band will also be playing at the British Open and we will sit down and agree how we progress beyond that."

Thanks

Simonsen ended by wishing everyone at Stavanger further success telling 4BR: "Stavanger are a wonderful band and I would like to thank everyone from Alan Withington to the players and band officials for the fantastic time we have had so far. I look forward to working with them again in the future."