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Downshire Brass Celebrates 2nd Place Success at the 2025 European Brass Band Competition
What a weekend it’s been for Downshire Brass! Months of dedication, rehearsals, and teamwork culminated in a fantastic 2nd place finish in the Challenge Section of the European Brass Band Competition held in Stavanger, Norway. This incredible achievement is the result of collective commitment and passion, and we’re immensely proud of how we represented ourselves on the European stage.
A heartfelt thank you goes to Roger Doherty, whose outstanding organisation ensured the trip ran seamlessly from start to finish. Special recognition must go to our Musical Director, Michael Alcorn, whose monumental effort—both in and out of the band room—was truly the driving force behind our performance. Words don’t quite capture the depth of our appreciation.
We’re also deeply grateful to the guest players who supported us both during the weekend and in the lead-up to the competition. Your contribution was vital, and we couldn’t have done it without you.
It was not only a successful competition, but also a memorable trip filled with camaraderie and music.
Check out the two videos below for a glimpse into the full experience of our journey to Stavanger.
Sounds of the Sixties - our winning programme from
Brass in Concert, Fivemiletown 2024
5 March 2024
What a weekend for team Downshire Brass, in which we took first place at the annual Brass in Concert competition in the Valley Hotel, Fivemiletown. We were placed first in music and also first in entertainments. Huge congratulations to Roughan Silver Band and Wellington Memorial Silver Band on their wins in their own sections and all of the participating bands on the day.
On behalf of the Band Committee, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of the members of Downshire who literally poured their hearts and souls into yesterday's ‘70s themed programme which included some stunning playing from our soloists Brendan Coyle and Joe Stewart.
The programme, entitled Sounds of the ‘70s aimed to transport the audience back to a golden era of pop music of the 1970s including hits by Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, the Carpenters, Barry Manilow, Barbara Streisand and ABBA. The programme included three brand-new arrangements specially created for this year’s contest in Fivemiletown by the band’s musical director, Michael Alcorn.
Move on Up - Curtis Mayfield (arr Michael Alcorn)
We’ve Only Just Begun - Roger Nichols & Paul Williams (arr Michael Alcorn) soloist Brendan Coyle
Dancing Queen - Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson (arr. Michael Alcorn)
Evergreen - Barbara Streisand & Paul Williams (arr Alan Catheral) soloist Joe Stewart
Copacabana - Barry Manilow arr Marcel Saurer
You Are the Sunshine of My Life - Stevie Wonder (arr Goff Richards)
VPM - Jacques Morali Victor Willis (arr Morali, Belolo, Willis arr. Tanner / Alcorn)
A massive thanks must go to our MD Michael Alcorn for the many many hours of music arranging, AV wizardry and most of all the endless work he does in the bandroom. Keep an eye out as you never know those ‘70s costumes may possibly make a reappearance at some point later in the year.
We hope all at the Valley had a great day's music making and the odd bit of craic as well and huge thanks to BBNI for their excellent organisation of the event.
NIBA Champions 2023
About Downshire Brass
Downshire Brass are based in Belfast and are one of Northern Ireland’s leading championship section brass bands. Formed more than 30 years ago from two of the oldest established brass bands in Ireland, Downshire enjoys considerable success as a contesting and concert brass band. The Band has a vibrant youth band and a number of smaller ensembles including the Ulster Rugby Band which performs regularly at the Kingspan stadium in Belfast.
The Band strives to include something for everyone in a repertoire which ranges from traditional brass band marches, through ‘big band’ numbers, to the classics and popular music. Downshire Brass has won a number of prizes for its entertaining programmes including winning performances at the Festival of Brass contest in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015, and contest and solo prizes in competitions in Scotland and Ireland in recent years.
The band won the First Section of the inaugural Cory Online Brass Band Championship and has created numerous online performances over the last year. In May 2015 Downshire had the huge honour of representing Northern Ireland at the European Brass Band Championships in Freiburg, Germany in 2015 and again in May 2022 in Birmingham. Read about the history of the band here.
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