Produced by
Jos Boerland
The years 2005 and 2006 were one of the most memorable periods of Soli Brass' respectable history. In February 2005 the board of directors and the members of Soli Brass decided that they wanted to move in an entirely new direction. Their desire was to find more excitement and musical challenge within a new repertoire. Along with this new vision a new conductor was needed, someone with a fresh, open vision about brass band music. That conductor is the 21 year-old Frans-Aert Burghgraef. The new cooperation led immediately to very evident musical results. The next high point came in December 2005 during the Dutch Brass Band Championships. After 20 years, Soli Brass brought the coveted honor back to Leeuwarden again. It was a spectacular success! The required work for the 25th Dutch Brass Band Championship was Earthquake, specially composed for the occasion by Jan de Haan. De Haan bore many expectations in 1974 when he, as a 24 year-old composer/conductor, became director of Soli Brass (then known as Brass Band Soli Deo Gloria, Leeuwarden). The musicians then had also chosen to go in a new musical direction. It was the beginning of a very successful period of cooperation between Jan de Haan and Soli Brass that lasted until the end of 1994. The group won the Dutch Brass Band Championship four times, latterly in 1985. And then in 2005, twenty years later, with Earthquake, they won again. The circle is now complete. The invitation to participate again in the European Brass Band Championship, after many years, was a special honor. This time it was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Though for most of the musicians participation in the European Championship was a completely new experience, from a historical perspective it felt a bit like a homecoming. This new CD by Soli Brass is aural retrospective of this spectacular period. It was truly an earthquake!