Last Friday (28th July) saw Leyland Band travel to Austria in order to perform at the prestigious Innsbrucker Promenadenkonzerte series. Following a successful performance at this festival in 2015 where the band was the first British brass band to perform there, Leyland Band were invited back with the organiser, Alois Schöpf, working towards the goal of making the concert series Europe’s leading brass music festival.

 

 

With 33 concerts taking place between 3rd-30th July, Leyland followed tradition by beginning their set standing in Innsbruck square to attract the crowds into the courtyard of the Imperial Palace where the formal concert began. Organiser Alois Schöpf estimated that there was an audience of over 1,500 people in attendance on the night, where the crowd was treated to an extensive set of themed music with over 25 items performed. Particularly rousing ovations were given to virtuosic solos performed by Iain Culross, James McLeod, John Doyle, Chris Doran and Ben Thomas.

 

A spokesperson from Leyland Band commented: ‘Performing to such a large crowd in such a beautiful setting was incredible! It is definitely one of our performance highlights of the year, and the band was honoured to have been invited back to this fantastic concert series.’