News

Third year trombone student Hari Eustice has beaten off stiff competition from the piano, strings, wind and percussion departments to win Trinity College of Music’s most prestigious prize. The final of the Trinity Soloist’s Competition took place on Tuesday at St. John’s, Smith Square, London, where Hari gave the winning performance of Tomasi’s Trombone Concerto with the TCM Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Cleobury.

The win echos trombonist Peter Moore in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008, playing the same concerto two days previously.

The British Trombone Society is delighted to announce its 2008-9 BTS Composers Competition for players and composers throughout the UK and abroad.

Composers are invited to write music for the trombone in one of eight categories:

1) Unaccompanied trombone
2) Trombone and Piano
a) Up to Grade 6 standard
b) Grade 8 standard
c) Diploma standard
3) Trombone and brass band
4) Trombone and Rhythm Section/Big band
5) Trombone Quartet Junior (under 16 years)
6) Trombone Quartet Senior

All submissions must be received by November 1st 2008 and will be judged by a team of expert trombone players and composers from within and outside the BTS such as Bruce Fraser and Dr Philip Wilby. Entry to the competition is free to BTS members and £30 to non-members.

Prizes include the publication of your score by Warwick Music and its performance by top level musicians at a future BTS event in 2009 and the Black Dyke Music Festival in Leeds, April 2009.

The winner of each section will have an opportunity for their compositions to be played and recorded by leading UK trombone players including having their composition used in BTS solo competitions.

Each entry must comprise three copies of the score, and a cover letter stating the category it is being entered for and contact details. The scores must be bound and legible. The piece must be an original work, and not performed previously to 1st January 2008. There are no restrictions on composer’s age or country. Entries are welcomed from both BTS members and non-members.

Please send entries to:
Brett Baker
BTS Chairman
35 Yew Tree Drive
Barnton
Northwich
Cheshire
CW8 4NH

The competition is a superb opportunity for composers, however experienced, and provides a showcase for the best new music for trombonists.

Gareth Westwood
northwest@britishtrombonesociety.org
North-West Representative, British Trombone Society

Guildhall student Robbie Harvey impressed judges Gordon Campbell, Bill Geldard and Jeremy Price to win the BTS Don Lusher prize. The competition was set-up to celebrate the memory and style of Don Lusher, and Robbie Harvey won a brand new Yamaha YSL697Z trombone and a special trophy presented by Diana Lusher.

Bill Geldard congratulates winner Robbie Harvey

The competition was staged at Leicester Grammar School on 3rd May 2008, where the three finalists, who had been selected by CD, played Harlem Nocturne and Stardust.

The two runners up Rachel Botham and Matthew Walton received plaques and a set of Denis Wick trombone mutes and a mouthpiece, kindly donated by Denis Wick.

Peter Moore has just been announced winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008. The 12 year-old trombonist becomes only the third brass player to win the grand final against all the other instrument categories - the others are top London orchestral players David Pyatt (1988) and Mike Hext (1978).

In a thrilling final in the Wales Millenium Centre today, Peter won over the judges with Tomasi’s Trombone Concerto accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as Sandström’s Sång til Lotta.

Peter was born in Belfast, and his parents were both French horn players in the Ulster Orchestra. Now living in Stalybridge, he studies at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester.

Really happy, couldn’t believe it, excited.

These were the words from 12-year old trombonist Peter Moore on hearing he’d been selected to represent brass in this weekend’s grand final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008 competition.

Following the front-page article in The Trombonist which included commentary from David Childs and Andrew Berryman, BTS members will no doubt be interested to watch Peter perform in the prestigious final this weekend. For those able to get to Cardiff, there will be performances on both days this weekend. On Saturday night, Peter and the other finalists will perform a concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and on Sunday afternoon they will each perform “a piece that is particularly personal to them”.

To see highlights of the final, watch BBC 2 on Sunday 6pm-8pm. The full event will be on BBC Radio 3 on Monday from 7.00pm. Full details at the BBC website.

You can also watch ‘YouTube’-style videos of Peter Moore playing in the brass final and in interview.

Peaslee - Arrows of time 1st mvmt: Jazz Feeling
Sandström - Sång til Lotta
Rota - Concerto for Trombone & Orchestra, 1st mvmt

Jazz trombonists up to the age of 30 are invited to compete in Finland at the 2nd International “Antti Rissanen” Jazz Trombone Competition. The competition was last held three years ago and was won by Andy Hunter from New York.

The talented winner will receive €2000, plus a new Miraphone trombone. The first round is judged by sending a recording, which needs to be under 12 minutes and include Stella by Starlight, to be received by 28th May 2008. The final is 8-9 August in Kotka, Finland. For full details, contact Antti Rissanen at a.r@saunalahti.fi

The British Trombone Society presents:

A spectacular day of trombone music and playing

Leicester Grammar School

Saturday 3rd May 2008

• Celebrating the lyrical trombone playing of the late Don Lusher
• The trombone in the Brass Band

Artists confirmed include:
Nick Hudson (former Principal Trombone of YBS and Fodens Bands),
Bob Hughes (Royal Academy of Music - Trombone Professor)
Brett Baker (Principal Trombone of the Black Dyke Band)
Chris Jeans (Principal Trombone of GUS Band and formerly of Desford and Black Dyke Bands)
Gordon Campbell (Principal Trombone of the BBC Big Band),
Jeremy Price (Jazz trombone soloist and Head of Jazz, Birmingham Conservatoire),
The Ratby Co-operative Brass Band

The programme for the day is as follows:
10.00am Introduction and massed trombone choir led by Bob Hughes (juniors with Chris Jeans)
10.45am Chris Jeans and Brett Baker. Demonstration and discussion of Brass Band repertoire and new compositions
11.30am Nick Hudson workshop on the art of solo playing, using volunteers
12.30pm lunch
1.30pm Improvisation workshop with Jeremy Price
2.30pm Don Lusher Competition
4.00pm Junior choir lead by Chris Jeans
4.00pm Senior choir led by Bob Hughes
5.00pm Workshop with Gordon Campbell
(5.00pm Rehearsal with Ratby and Don Lusher finalist)
6.00pm Concert. Brett Baker, Nick Hudson, Chris Jeans and Don Lusher prize winner.
The evening concert will also feature the Ratby Co-operative Brass Band (Championship Section) and the artists in a full concert.

The three Don Lusher prize finalists will be performing an arrangement of either Stardust or Harlem Nocturne, by one of the judges: world-famous arranger and composer, Bill Geldard. The other judges are Gordon Campbell, lead trombone with the BBC Big Band, and Jeremy Price, International Soloist and Head of Jazz at Birmingham Conservatoire. The main prize is a new top-of-the range tenor trombone, kindly donated by Yamaha UK Ltd. The Don Lusher prize will be awarded by Don’s widow, Diana Lusher.

There will be a number of trade stands present with instruments, sheet music and CDs to try and buy.

Date: Saturday 3 May 2008
Times: 10.00am - 8.00pm
Venue: Leicester Grammar School, 8 Peacock Lane, Leicester, LE1 5PX - directions on the Leicester Grammar School website.
Prices: Admission to the workshops and daytime events is free to BTS members and £10 to non members. Tickets for the evening concert and competition final will be by ticket, available on the door at £5 for all.
For further information, please contact Brett Baker by email: chair@britishtrombonesociety.org

Billed as an opportunity “to become the next Christian Lindberg”, the Christian Lindberg Solo Competition took place last week, and another Swede took the amazing prize of 6000 Euro, a new Conn 88HCL and five concerto appearances around Spain and Scandinavia.

The talented winner is Håkan Björkman who is the principal trombone for the Stockholm Opera and Chamber Orchestra of Europe (in the section with Helen Vollam).

Competition was fierce, and the jury of Joseph Alessi, Jörgen van Rijen, Michel Becquet, Salvatore Tarraso and Christian Lindberg picked 2 finalists from Sweden as well as one each from France, Mexico, Greece and Luxembourg.

Lindberg eulogised on the high standards: “It breaks my heart to see incredible players such as the principal trombonists in the Madrid and the Warsaw Philharmonics or french prizewinner of the Porcia competition defeated, but this time the quality seems to be so incredibly high.”

BTS spoke briefly to the Håkan about his win and what it means to him.

“I feel that this is great start to maybe develop my solo career a bit further. And all the praise from the jury members is awesome! Since Lindberg has such a great impact on the trombone world and winning a prize in his name - it is a bit hard to really comprehend. I’m very happy!”

Where did it all start?

“I grew up in Arboga, 90 minutes from Stockholm and studied with John Petersen as a teenager. I spent a bit of time studying in Chicago and at Interlochen, before returning to the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and studied with Jan Andersson and Sven-Erik Eriksson in Stockholm. I started subbing in the orchestras aged about 19/20 and won various jobs soon afterwards.”

And was Christian Lindberg an influence at all, living so close?

“I am very inflences by Christian. What he expresses on stage with his music making can not leave anyone untouched. It just grabs you.”

Now you’ve won this competition, do you hope to do less orchestral work and more solo?

“I am very happy working at the opera and COE. The opera is a complete art-form and our orchestra, as well as the ensemble, have become enhanced artistically the last 5-6 years - definitately a nice place to work at. And the COE, what can you say? Probably the best chamber orchestra in the world. Being with them is always a top experience on all levels. The music, flexibility to adjust anything in an instant, as well of the unique sound of the strings, the smooth winds and the timpani - it is really arresting stuff.

But I do feel more interested in doing new challenges on my instrument more than ever before. I won the Swedish solo prize last year so I am doubly happy today!

The British Trombone Society is pleased to announce the 2008 National Competition for Young Trombonists

Open to all tenor and bass trombone players up to the age of 16, the competition aims to seek out the next generation of talent, showcase their skills and provide support from some of the top names in the industry.

Mark Templeton, Carol Jarvis and Bruce Fraser will be judging both the CD recording round and live final. Bruce Fraser has written a piece specifically for this competition called Hellas, available now from Lomond Music.

To enter the competition, submit your recording of Hellas by 30 June 2008. The live final will take place at the BTS trombone day, Oundle School (Northamptonshire) on 5 October 2008.

Full details and an application form can be downloaded from the Competitions page.

The next generation of trombone soloists are invited to compete in the Christian Lindberg Solo Competition in Valencia this April. With the likes of Lindberg, Joe Alessi, Jörgen van Rijen and Michel Becquet on the panel and €6000 and a raft of concerto appearances on the cards, it is certainly attracting a great deal of prestige.

Jury: Christian Lindberg, chairman, Joe Alessi, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Jörgen van Rijen, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Michel Becquet, soloist and professor at the Lyon Conservatory, Salvatore Tarraso, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, Ferrer Ferran, composer, Justo Romero, dramaturg at the Valencia Opera House, Daniel Perpina, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra.

The winner will receive €6000, a brand new Christian Lindberg Conn 88HCL trombone, three solo concerts in the Valencia region, plus subscription series solo concerts with the Nordic Chamber Orchestra and the Swedish Wind Ensemble.

Competition: 2-5 April 2008

Competition solo repertoire:
Lindberg: Joe Jack Binglebandit
L. Mozart: Concerto
Tomasi: Concerto
Ferrer Ferran (final): Concerto for Trombone and Wind Orchestra

To register for the competition, write to: M Dolores Rivera (mdrivera@riveramusica.com).
Full information on Christian Lindberg’s website.