The Eikanger-Bjørsvik band (also known as the Eikanger band) is a
brass and percussion ensemble from the municipality of
Lindås
Lindås is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Munici ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. They are probably the best known brass band in Norway and have won the National brass band championships twenty times (1981, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023). In 1988 they became the first non-British band to win the European championships for brass band, an achievement they repeated in 1989 and 2017. The Eikanger-Bjørsvik band have worked with
conductors like Helge Haukås, Peter Parkes, David King,
Ingar Bergby,
Elgar Howarth
Elgar Howarth (4 November 1935 – 13 January 2025) was an English conductor, composer and trumpeter. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove noted that "his performances are marked by powerful concentration and a clear communicat ...
,
Howard Snell,
Bjarte Engeset and
Nicholas Childs.
The name is constructed from the names of two small villages along the fjord of
Osterfjorden
Osterfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is one of three fjords surrounding the island of Osterøy. The fjord runs along the municipal border of Alver and Osterøy municipalities. The fjord begins at the Romarheimsfjorde ...
,
Eikanger and
Bjørsvik, which both had their own community bands. Eikanger's, being the oldest, was founded in 1949, Bjørsvik's in 1952. In 1971, the bands merged and became a British-style
brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...
.
External links
Home page
Lindås
Brass bands
{{Norway-band-stub