The European Brass Band Association are delighted that 34 soloists entered the 10th European Soloist Competition.
After close analysis of the video entries, 19 soloists have qualified for the 1st round which will be held in the Middle Hall, Brucknerhaus, Monday 20 April 2026. In this 1st round, the soloists will play an 8-minute program of their own choice.
Eight soloists will be chosen by a distinguished jury to compete in the 2nd round on Tuesday 21 April, also be held in the Middle Hall, Brucknerhaus. Three finalists will then be chosen by another jury to compete in the final on Thursday 23 April at 19:00 in the Brucknerhaus. Brass Band Fribourg (Switzerland) will accompany the three finalists when they perform a major work.
The repertoire for the 2nd round and the final is pre-selected by the EBBA Music Commission.
For this year’s solo competition, we have chosen slightly different types of pieces in the 2nd and final rounds. In the 2nd round, we keep the more traditional solo pieces, while in the final round we have actively looked for newer repertoire. Through our choices, we hope to introduce new, high-quality music, to a new generation of soloists while at the same time giving the candidates fairer conditions, as no soloist may have played the piece many times before.
EBBAs Music Commission gives the warmest of congratulations to all the entrants.
Chair of the Music Commission, Benjamin Haemhouts, comments:
“The standard was very high, and the entrants should all be very proud of their performances. We feel that the future of brass and percussion playing, and of brass bands in Europe, is in very good hands.”
Qualified players to the 1st round Monday 20 April 2026
|
First name |
Family name |
Instrument |
Representing Country |
|
Bernardas |
Butkus |
Euphonium |
Lithuania |
|
Leonardo |
D’Azzena |
Cornet |
Italy |
|
Ibai |
de Miguel |
Euphonium |
Spain |
|
Lovis |
Erche |
Tuba |
Germany |
|
Daniel |
Fleischmann |
Tenor trombone |
Austria |
|
Simon |
Gabriel |
Cornet |
Switzerland |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Niklas |
Hinterholzer |
Tenor trombone |
Austria |
|
Daniel |
Hohm |
Euphonium |
Germany |
|
Jovita |
Kasperavičiūtė |
Euphonium |
Lithuania |
|
Julian |
Koller |
Marimba |
Austria |
|
Florian |
Krogsæter |
Tenor horn |
Norway |
|
Jisse |
Kuipers |
Tenor trombone |
The Netherlands |
|
Lubin |
Cavanna |
Tenor horn |
France |
|
Joshua |
Parkhill |
Tenor trombone |
Scotland |
|
Emil |
Rademacher Krogsæter |
Tuba |
Norway |
|
Paul |
Tiefenthaler |
Bass trombone |
Austria |
|
Anke |
Verboven |
Tenor horn |
Belgium |
|
Viktorija |
Volodova |
Tenor horn |
Lithuania |
Repertoire for 2nd round
Candidates will perform a piece, with a piano accompanist, from the following list:
Cornet: Canto (Elgar Howarth)
Tenor horn: Sonata for Horn (John Golland)
Trombone: Ballade pour Trombone (Frank Martin)
Bass trombone: New Orleans (Eugène Bozza)
Euphonium: Symphonic Variants (James Curnow)
Tuba: Sonate für Tuba (Paul Hindemith)
Marimba: Prism Rhapsody for Marimba and Piano (Keiko Abe)
Repertoire for the final
The three candidates will perform the set piece from the following list at the
Final of the European Soloist Competition:
Cornet: Concerto for Cornet (Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen)
Tenor horn: Concerto “Three Gods” (Edward Gregson)
Trombone: Trombone Concerto “Scene Change” (Oliver Waespi)
Bass trombone: Bass trombone Concerto (Derek Bourgeois)
Euphonium: Venice (Judith Bingham)
Tuba: Concerto for Tuba “Amaia” (Ricardo Mollá, arr. Tommy Tynan)
Marimba: Concerto for Marimba (Paul Creston)
About Brass Band Fribourg and their conductor
Read more about Brass Band Fribourg and their conductor in this article:
https://ebba.eu.com/brass-bans-fribourg-for-the-final-of-the-european-soloist-competition/