Amiens chooses European champion of symphonic wind music

On May 6 and 7, 2023, the European Championship of Symphonic Wind Bands was held in Amiens (France). Seven countries participated, namely Norway, Belgium, France, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden. ECWO is an international non-profit association with the aim of organizing the European Championship of Wind Bands. The mission is to promote wind music and the values associated with wind music.‍ By organizing the championship, the association aims to promote wind music and the values associated with wind music. Furthermore, to improve and maintain the high level within wind orchestras and to stimulate and support international contacts and networks. For this purpose, a new repertoire for harmony orchestras is also promoted and developed.

We were present at the competition in Amiens and could convince ourselves of the high quality of the participating orchestras. The winner with 97.98 points was Musikkforeningen Nidarholm (Norway), followed by Koninklijke Harmonie van Peer (Netherlands) and L’Orchestre d’harmonie de la Région Centre (France). The Rodovre Concert Band (Denmark) came in fourth, then the Wind Orchestra Siebnen (Switzerland), followed by the Symfonisch Blaasorkest Koninklijke Sophia’s Vereeniging (Netherlands) and the Uppsala Blasersamyfoniker (Sweden).

Compulsory piece: Mouvements Frénétiques – Alexandre Kosmicki

Scoring pieces: Atlas Symphony (Thierry Deleruyelle), Divertimento (Oliver Waespi), Einsiedeln’s trees (José Suñer-Oriola), Frozen Cathedral (John Mackey), Myth Forest (Stig Nordhagen), Traveler (David Maslanka), The Firebird (Igor Strawinsky), First Light (David Maslanka), The Age of Discovery (Miho Hazama), The Washington Statues (Philip Sparke ), Wine Darke Sea Movement 1 “Hubris” (John Mackey), Music of the Spheres (Philip Sparke), Where Angels Fly (Kevin Houben), I Shall Love But Thee (Jan Van der Roost)