The 8th European Conductors Competition is to be held in Stavanger, Norway in 2025 as part of the 46th European Brass Band Championships.
The Competition will take place in Kuppelhallen, Stavanger Concert Hall, from 4 – 8 May 2025 and will consist of two preliminary rounds and a final.
The first round will begin on Sunday 4th of May. Six conductors will be chosen by a distinguished jury to compete in the second round on 6th of May and three finalists will be chosen by another jury to compete in the final on Thursday 8 May. Each of the finalists will conduct a major work for brass band.
Chris King, chairman of the EBBA Music Commission, commented:
EBBA are delighted with the overall quality of the entries, and the selection process was not straight-forward at all.
The Music Commission could have easily put over 20 entries through to the first round in Stavanger, but the numbers had to be limited.
Invited to participate
For the 8th European Conductors Competition the following 13 participants have qualified
for the first round:
Robin Bartholini (Switzerland)
Neil Brownless (United Kingdom)
Lars Corijn (Belgium)
Tom Ole Elgsaas (Norway)
Roel Laethem (Belgium)
Elisa Lapan (Austria)
Jaap Musschenga (The Netherlands)
Arian Pedersen (Norway)
Florentin Setz (Switzerland)
Eline Storheim (Norway)
Paul van Gils (The Netherlands)
Kristoffer Nikolai Wøien (Norway)
Simon-Emiil Bergstrøm Waage (Norway)
Ensembles
For the first round, the competitors will meet the 1st section band Sola Brass Band.
The professional sinfonietta Insimul will be the ensemble for the second round, and for the final the finalists will conduct the top section band Stavanger Brass Band.
Repertoire for the final is Fraternity (Thierry Deleruyelle), Catharsis (Kjetil Djønne) and Lowry Sketchbook (Philip Wilby).
Prizes
1st place EUR 2500
2nd place EUR 1500
3rd place EUR 1000
Band prize EUR 500
Audience prize EUR 500
In addition, there will be special awards for the finalists.
The competitors who reach the final will receive a diploma and they will be invited to a personal coaching lesson with one of the brass band movement’s most prominent conductors, Philip Harper.
Adjudicators
After the European Youth Brass Band have assembled on the first weekend of the event, the competitive element of the championships begins with the first round of the European Conductors Competition on the Sunday morning. Twelve candidates will arrive Stavanger for the first round, and each will work with the Sola Brass Band. Selecting the six semi-finalists from this pool will be Isabelle Ruf Weber (Switzerland) and Allan Withington (Norway), both highly respected conductors and educators.
The semi-final of the Conductors’ Competition takes place on Tuesday evening, again judged by Isabelle and joined by EBBA Music Commission member, Benjamin Haemhouts, a renowned orchestral and opera conductor from Belgium. The semi-finalists have an opportunity to work with the professional sinfonietta, Insimul.
On Thursday evening, we have the final of the European Conductors Competition where the three finalists will conduct the Stavanger Brass Band in performances of three major original works for brass band, judged by the esteemed panel of Allan Withington, Russell Gray (Scotland) and Michael Bach (Switzerland). Of course, there is also an audience prize in the final, so be there if you want input into the results.