Competition

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The 5th International Lieksa Brass Week Trombone Competition (Olavi Lampinen in memoriam)

RULES OF THE COMPETITION

1. Lieksa Brass Week organizes the 5th International Lieksa Brass Week Trombone Competition (Olavi Lampinen in memoriam) 23-30 July 2026. The competition is open to contestants of all nationalities who were born in 1991 or later.

2. The Competition will consist of the following rounds:

First round (24-25 July 2026)
Second round (27 July 2026)
Final round (30 July 2026)

3. The registration form on the Lieksa Brass Week websiteshall be filled online. The registration  form must be submitted no later than 30 April 2026, 23:59 UTC +3 if the maximum number of 35 participants has not been reached by then.

The online application form must be accompanied by:

• copy of passport or national identity card

• photo

• short curriculum vitae for competition brochure (maximum 700 characters in English)

A contestant’s participation in the competition can be denied if the necessary attachments or the participation fee have not been delivered by the deadline.

4. The participation fee is 100 euros paid by 31 December 2025, after that it is 120 euros. The payment is primarily made at the time of registration by credit card or online payment. If card or online payment is not possible, please contact competition@lieksabrass.com for further instructions. The bank service fees or possible other costs arising from the payment may not be deducted from the participation fee. The participation fee is non-refundable. 

5. In Lieksa, the contestants have at their disposal pianists organized and drawn by the competition. The use of one’s own pianist is allowed at the contestant’s own expense. One’s own pianist cannot be any of the pianists organized by the competition. Accompaniment rehearsals will start on 23 July 2026 after the briefing.  The Jury selects a maximum of ten (10) contestants for the Second Round. Those accepted to the Final Round will rehearse with the orchestra. 

6. The briefing and the draw for the order of competition will be held in Lieksa on Thursday 23 July 2026, at 10 am local time (UTC +3, Finnish summer time). The drawn order remains the same throughout the competition. Every contestant must be present in person at the draw.

7. Program: The editions (if) indicated in the rules are used in the competition. The contestants must perform the works in the order of the competition program. The contestants  can choose whether to play by heart or from sheet music.

First round (with piano)

Eugène Bozza: Ballade Op. 62
Éditions Musicales Alphonse Leduc

AND

Anna-Maija Laiho-Ihekweazu: Palaava for solo trombone
Fennica Gehrman

AND

Henri Dutilleux: Choral, Cadence et Fugato
Éditions Musicales Alphonse Leduc

Second round (with piano)

Sigismond Stojowski: Fantaisie pour Trombone Ténor
Éditions Musicales Alphonse Leduc

AND

Jean-Michel Defaye: Deux Danses
Éditions Musicales Alphonse Leduc

AND

Stjepan Sulek: Sonata (Vox Gabrieli)
The Brass Press/Editions Bim

Final round (with Joensuu City Orchestra)

Leonard Bernstein: Elegy for Mippy II
Boosey & Hawkes

AND

Launy Grøndahl: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
Edition·S

8. After each round, the Jury decides the number of contestants who will advance. 

9. The Jury: Matthew Gee (chair, GBR), Anna-Maija Laiho-Ihekweazu (FIN), Jon Roskilly (GBR), Olav Severeide (NOR), Sándor Szabó (HUN).

10. The Prizes:

I prize EUR 6 000
II prize EUR 3 000
III prize EUR 2 000

There may also be other prizes in the competition.

The prizes of the competition will be awarded after the announcement of the results. The jury can, if it wishes, distribute the prizes differently from what is presented above. If the prize place is shared between two or more competitors, the prize amount will also be shared in a similar way, unless the jury decides otherwise. The jury's decision is final and cannot be appealed.

11. The competition is public and the organizers have the right to grant permission to record, broadcast, stream, tape and televise the competition without paying separate compensation to the competitors.

12. The original language of these rules is Finnish. Any disputes will be resolved based on the Finnish rules. 

For further questions, please contact:

Lieksa Brass Week
competition@lieksabrass.com
Tel. +358 (0)45 132 4000
Pielisentie 26, FI-81700 LIEKSA, FINLAND

Competition poster (pdf)