Brass Concerto Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

One player performs a concerto, or a movement from one, on a brass instrument within a twenty-minute limit, usually with piano standing in for the orchestra, and is marked out of 100.

Brass Concerto is the large-scale solo class for a trumpeter, cornet player, horn player, trombonist, euphonium player or tubist who is ready to take on a work written for soloist and orchestra. In competition the orchestra is normally replaced by a piano reduction, so the entry is one soloist and one accompanist, performing a whole concerto or one or more of its movements.

What sets it apart from the ordinary brass solo is demand on the lips and the lungs. A concerto keeps a brass player working for many minutes with few places to rest, so endurance, breath planning and control of the upper register matter as much as the notes themselves. The player must also hold a long slow movement steady, handle any cadenza the composer wrote, and stay in step with the piano rather than simply being followed by it.

On the template that carries it, the class is a single open entry for individual players of either gender, with no language attached and a limit of twenty minutes per performance, marked out of 100. That limit leaves room for a complete short concerto or a substantial movement, though a long work may need a sensible cut agreed with the organiser beforehand.

Organisers include a concerto class to give their most advanced brass players a platform beyond the standard solo, and to give audiences a showpiece. It sits beside the equivalent string and woodwind concerto classes, so a music section can recognise serious soloists in every instrument family on a scale of their own.

Where Brass Concerto is run

Brass Concerto appears on one eTalenter template: a British music, speech and drama eisteddfod, where it is an open solo class with a twenty-minute limit. This page records only that template; concerto classes in other festivals are organised separately and are not claimed here.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Individual entry, open to boys and girls together; no language is set
• Open solo class with a twenty-minute performance limit
• Marked out of 100; the source prints no judging criteria for the class, so none are assumed here
• Usually performed with a piano reduction of the orchestral part, so an accompanist is part of the entry
• A whole concerto or selected movements may be offered, within the limit
• Separate from the brass solo and brass repertoire classes the same event runs

On eTalenter, Brass Concerto is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Brass Concerto is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 20 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Brass Concerto

What a Brass Concerto panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Endurance and pacing: a sound that stays full and secure to the last page, with rests and easier passages used to recover rather than the player tiring visibly
• Tone across the range: an even, rounded sound from the lowest notes to the top register, without pinched or forced high notes
• Accuracy in exposed writing: clean attacks, secure slurs and leaps, and any cadenza played with control rather than at the edge of the player
• Ensemble with the accompanist: matched tempo, balance and phrasing, so the brass does not overpower the piano nor disappear beneath it
• Musical shape: a clear sense of how the movements relate, with lyrical slow sections sung and bold passages given weight
• Time discipline and presentation: finishing inside twenty minutes, a calm entrance, and tidy handling of the instrument, mutes and music between movements

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Brass Concerto under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Brass Concerto

How entrants and their teachers usually get Brass Concerto right on the day:

• Choose a work, or movements of it, you can play securely from start to finish; a shorter concerto played well beats a famous one that exhausts you
• Time a full run-through with the piano part and cut to fit twenty minutes, agreeing any cut with the organiser and your accompanist early
• Build stamina in stages: practise movements back to back, with short, planned rests, and keep warm-ups gentle so the lips are fresh for the performance
• Book several rehearsals with the accompanist, and rehearse the entries after any cadenza and the changes between movements
• Mark breath points and rests in the part, and pack valve oil or slide cream, a mute if the work asks for one, a cloth, a stand and a spare copy of the piano score
• Record yourself, listen for tired intonation and fading tone in the last pages, and work those passages on their own

Frequently asked questions

Is Brass Concerto judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Do I have to play the whole concerto?

Not necessarily. The class allows twenty minutes, so a complete short concerto or one or more movements of a longer one can be offered. Check with your organiser about cuts for a longer work.

Is the orchestra provided?

In festival practice the orchestral part is normally played on piano. The source for this class does not say who supplies the accompanist, so confirm that with your organiser.

Which instruments are eligible?

The class title says only brass, so trumpet, cornet, horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba are the usual entries. Confirm with your organiser if you play a less common brass instrument.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

It is an individual entry: one soloist, open to boys and girls together, marked out of 100.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.