The European Brass Band Association has reacted in a conciliatory manner in response to the latest correspondence from the Mayor of the Municipality of Palanga Town, following the decision EBBA made to host the 2019 European Championships in Montreux.

Open letter

In an open letter published on its website on behalf of its President, Ulf Rosenberg, the Executive Committee and Music Commission, and signed by General Secretary Kor Niehof, it says it has been written, '...based on mutual respect and a shared love of brass bands', and that it is their '...profound hope that further progress on this matter can be achieved.'

Furthermore, they state that it remains, '...supportive of your (Palanga's) ambition to join a list of outstanding venues that have hosted the EBBC (European Championships) during the past 40 years'.

Reflection

Significantly, EBBA admits that it recognises the hard work and high quality of the work undertaken in respect to the major concerns over the acoustic of Palanga Concert Hall.

On reflection, they also admit that the meetings held during their recent visits did not in their words, '...produce the necessary understanding or engender the type of personal relationships that make the business of hosting major international events more easily managed'.

They state that '...on reflection perhaps the weekend could have been structured differently'.

Whilst EBBA still reiterates it position over its concerns with the acoustic of the hall, it also notes the response that was give by Laurynas Paskevicius and Wim Prinssen in their recent report that a non digital or electronic answer could be achieved with the further investigation of the use of an orchestral shell.

We hope that we can re-engage with you again with all speed and in partnership for this shared goalEBBA

Further work

EBBA has therefore proposed that Palanga looks into the feasibility of this, before EBBA appoints '...a prominent European band' to perform a further test event when the work is complete.

They also note that further work is also required to eliminate noise coming into the auditorium from outside the hall.

However, in what can be seen as a significant move on EBBA's behalf towards seeking a new, compromise solution to Palanga hosting the championships in the near future, they add that they are '...happy to engage personally and directly to facilitate endeavours for a successful outcome.'

Olive branch

The letter ends with the olive branch response: "We hope that we can re-engage with you again with all speed and in partnership for this shared goal."

4BR is now awaiting a further response to the latest from the office of the Mayor of the Municipality of Palanga.

Full letter

The full letter of response from EBBA can be seen at:

http:/­/­www.ebba.eu.com/­news?article=ebba-s-response-on-recent-communication-regarding-palanga