Chichester Uni brass band compete in “Euros of the brass-band world”
The University of Chichester Brass Band are heading off to the “Euros of the brass-band world” for a major contest in Lithuania.
They will be representing England in their section, and associate lecturer and instrumental tutor Emma Button, who will be conducting, says there is plenty of excitement in the ranks.
They leave for Lithuania on May 3 and are fundraising towards the trip on https://www.justgiving.com/ campaign/ university-of chi chester-brass-band
“The contest is a massive deal. The way I sell it to anybody is to say it's like the Euros in football but for brass bands. The best brass bands from across Europe are invited to compete. There is a youth section and we are in the top section of the youth section. The lower section is for up to the age of 18 and the top section is up to 22.
“I think we're against three other bands in our section. We are against a conservatoire from Italy and a Welsh band and one from Lithuania. You have to perform a 25-minute programme of music. There is a set piece that everybody has to play which in this competition is The Baltic Way and then the remainder of the programme is entirely up to you. But you have to keep it top secret. We're not allowed to tell anybody what our programme is. I think they just want to keep the surprise on the day.
“We are taking 29 players in total and I am conducting. It a combination of University of Chichester students and alumni, anybody that has graduated already but still fits into the age bracket and we are using our local connections to fill any empty chairs.
“All the ensembles at the university are extracurricular. People don't have to play in them if they don't want to but lots of students do really engage with them and we have a great turnout. They work incredibly hard. The band has been going since 2012 but obviously we have a huge turn-over of students every year which makes my job as conductor quite stressful! I know who I am losing at the end of each academic year but I never know who I'm gaining until they walk through the door. Last year was a fairly big hit. Some years we lose people in an even spread across the instruments but sometimes it will be one section in particular that we lose from. But every September everybody really embraces the whole idea and pulls together when we get there. We're not just for the music students. At the moment we have got a sports student and an IT student and we have got a lot of musical theatre students involved. It's students from a lot across a lot of different courses.”
As for impressing the judges: “The main thing is that you've got to play together but also stylistically you have to adapt from piece to piece.
"People joke that lots of brass bands play in only one way and that brass bands can't play jazz but I do think that with my band we are really good at adapting from piece to piece which I think is really important.”