We are delighted to announce the adjudicating panel for the 172nd British Open, to be held at Symphony Hall, Birmingham on Saturday 12 September 2026. Arsène Duc, Martyn Brabbins and David Hirst will take their places in the box as the UK’s leading brass bands, joined by international visitors Sydney City Brass (Australia) and Brass Band Willebroek (Belgium), compete for the 2026 British Open Brass Band Championship title with Philip Sparke’s Music of the Spheres.
The panel brings together championship-winning conducting, international orchestral pedigree and a lifetime’s experience inside the brass band movement, reflecting the scale and prestige of the world’s oldest and most famous brass band contest.
The Adjudicators
Arsène Duc studied at the Conservatoire supérieur de musique in Geneva, Switzerland. He has won nine Swiss National Brass Band Championship titles (three with Brass Band Fribourg in 2002, 2005 and 2007, and six with the Valaisia Brass Band between 2009 and 2019, which he founded in 2008), plus the Swiss Open in 2013. With Valaisia he won the British Open in 2017 and the European Championship in 2018, and with his village band Ancienne Cécilia, which he has conducted since 1988, he has taken two further Swiss titles at the Federal Music Festivals. He was named 4barsrest “Conductor of the Year” in 2018.
Martyn Brabbins was recently appointed Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony and the Symphony Orchestra of India, and guests with leading orchestras worldwide including the Royal Concertgebouw, San Francisco Symphony, DSO Berlin and the BBC Symphony. A regular at the BBC Proms and a noted advocate for British composers, he has conducted hundreds of world premieres, recorded nearly 150 CDs, and received the RPS Conductor Award in 2023. His roles have included Associate Principal Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of English National Opera (2016–2023), and Chair and Professor of Conducting at the Royal College of Music. His own musical roots lie in brass banding, having played euphonium and trombone in his youth.
David Hirst joined the world-famous Black Dyke Mills Band on soprano cornet at sixteen, where he shared in World, National and British Open titles. He went on to a long conducting career including spells with Andrews Heat for Hire, Lewington Yamaha, Resident Conductor of Black Dyke, Musical Director of the IMI Yorkshire Band, and eleven years as Resident Musical Director of Brighouse & Rastrick. One of the country’s most experienced adjudicators, with over thirty years in the box across every level from Youth to Championship section, he has judged at the National Finals, the Butlins Championships, the Swiss National Championships, and numerous regional and international contests.
The Test Piece
Philip Sparke’s Music of the Spheres was confirmed earlier this year as the 2026 test piece, the first time a Sparke composition has been set at the British Open, and a fitting choice in his 75th birthday year. Originally commissioned by Yorkshire Building Society Band for the 2004 European Championship, the work takes its title from a theory attributed to Pythagoras, that the cosmos is governed by the same ratios underpinning musical harmony. Opening with a horn solo titled t = 0 (a reference to the moment of the Big Bang), the piece journeys through movements exploring deep space and cosmic imagery, from The Lonely Planet to the turbulence of Asteroids and Shooting Stars, before closing with The Unknown.
Event Details
- Event: The 172nd British Open Brass Band Championship
- Date: Saturday 12 September 2026
- Venue: Symphony Hall, Birmingham
- Test Piece: Music of the Spheres (Philip Sparke)
- Adjudicators: Arsène Duc, Martyn Brabbins, David Hirst
- Tickets: On sale now via B:Music
- Livestream: Available via The British Open’s official streaming platform at https://stream.thebritishopen.net
