Swiss Brass names the jury and own-choice pieces for the national brass band contest in Montreux

The Swiss Brass Band Association (Swiss Brass) published the jury, the special prizes and the own-choice pieces for the Swiss National Brass Band Championships on 13 October 2026.¹ The contest takes place on 28 and 29 November 2026 at the 2M2C Montreux Music & Convention Center.²

The top-section list has ten own-choice pieces; Oliver Waespi ('Other Lives', 'West Wind - Metamorphoses for Brass Band'), Maurice Donnet-Monay ('Eclipse', 'Midnight's Butterflies'), Bert Appermont and Simon Dobson have two each.³

Nine people sit on the jury, among them the composer Luis Serrano Alarcón from Valencia and Anne Crookston, who in 2024 became the first woman to adjudicate the British Open Brass Band Championship.⁴ They are joined by Ueli Kipfer, head of the Musikschule Oberemmental, Olivier Marquis, conductor of the Fanfare de Montsevelier, and Pascal Schafer, conductor of the Stadtmusik Biel.⁴

Competing for the top-section title are Valaisia Brass Band (VS), Brass Band Treize Étoiles (VS), Ensemble de Cuivres Valaisan (VS), Brass Band Fribourg (FR), Ensemble de Cuivres Mélodia A (VD), Ensemble de Cuivres Jurassien A (JU), Brass Band Berner Oberland (BE), Oberaargauer Brass Band (BE), Brassband Bürgermusik Luzern (LU) and Liberty Brass Band (SG).⁵