The European Brass Band Association is pleased to announce the adjudicators for the European Brass Band Championships, the European Soloist Competition and the European Youth Brass Band Contest to be held as part of the European Brass Band Festival 2026, Linz, Austria 22-26 April 2026.

After the European Youth Brass Band have assembled on the first weekend of the event, the competitive element of the championships begins with the first round of the European Soloist Competition on the Monday morning. Nineteen candidates will arrive in Linz for the first round. Selecting the eight semi-finalists from this pool will be Thomas Doss (Austria) and Lito Fontana (Italy/Austria), both highly respected in the brass band family.

The 2nd round of the Soloist Competition takes place on Tuesday, judged by Thomas Ludescher and Felix Geroldinger, both from Austria. Thomas Ludescher is internationally active as a guest conductor, juror, and lecturer, leading masterclasses and workshops throughout Europe. Felix Geroldinger won the European Soloist Competition in Utrecht in 2018. Since 2022, he has been serving as principal trombone of the Vorpommern Philharmonic Orchestra.

On Thursday evening, we have the final of the European Soloist Competition where the three finalists will be accompanied by the Brass Band Fribourg. The final will be judged by the esteemed panel of Katrina Marzella-Wheeler (Scotland), Margaret Antrobus (Norway) and Edward Gregson (England). Of course, there is also an audience prize in the final, so be there if you want input into the results.

To judge the Championship Set Test, the highly professional trio of Margaret Antrobus (Norway), Jan Van der Roost (Belgium) and Philip Harper (England) will be in the box. Each juror will bring a unique perspective to the panel will have a very clear picture of how excellence should sound on the demanding set-test.

For the Challenge Section on the Saturday morning, we see Katrina Marzella-Wheeler and Jan Van der Roost. Later, on the Saturday, a highly experienced judging team of Grethe Tonheim (Norway), Edward Gregson and Thomas Ludescher will make the important decisions on the fearsome task of judging the Championship Own Choice.

Making the important decisions in the Youth Competitions on the Sunday see the return of Grethe Tonheim and Jan Van der Roost.

The EBBA Music Commission is delighted that they have been able to secure the services of such an impressive, and musically diverse, body of jury members for the European Brass Band Championships in Linz. They jury bring many years of experience as performers, conductors and jurors to the events