Cathedral Brass

North Shore Brass are delighted to introduce its new principal cornet to audiences at Cathedral Brass to be held 2.00 pm 22 March at St Peters Anglican Church Takapuna.

In a new venture for this highly talented band they will perform repertoire both traditional and modern for local audiences featuring Belgium cornet star Harmen Vanhoorne. Joining him will be the up and coming North Shore Brass Academy Band (Steve Foster) and Auckland’s champion band North Shore Brass (Colin Clark).

“The arrival of Vanhoorne has created excitement among brass musicians nationwide with invitations to perform with orchestras and bands through the year” says band president Owen Melhuish. “We are describing his entry into New Zealand music as the same as Michael Jordan joining the NZ Breakers basketball team!” say Melhuish.

As a professional Cornet player, Harmen worked as a soloist in the Royal Wind Band of the Belgian Guides, a widely known military orchestra. In 2006, he became principal cornet of Brass Band Buizingen going on to conduct them with some success in recent times.

Harmen Vanhoorne‘s impressive list of achievements include, amongst others, the prestigious British Open Solo Competition (Manchester, UK) in 2010 and the Ern Keller Memorial Trophy (Sydney, AUS) in 2010, granting him the title of International Soloist of the Year.

Harmen has won the coveted top principal cornet prize in 2016 and 2019 at the NZ National Brass Band Championship of New Zealand. He is widely known for displaying stunning musical technique whilst delivering entertainment at its best.