Brass Syllabus

Entries open 01/01/2026 and close 25/02/2026

Wednesday May 13th at Redhill United Reformed Church

Adjudicator: Alexei Watkins

London-based French Horn player Alexei Watkins graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with a Master of Arts Degree (Distinction) in 2018, having been awarded the Dennis Brain Prize.

As a soloist, Alexei has performed recitals extensively across the UK at venues including: St John’s Smith Square, the Lichfield Festival, the Buxton International Festival, Blackheath Halls, the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival, Southwark Cathedral and Hampton Court Palace. Other recent solo engagements include the Gipps Horn Concerto at Cadogan Hall, Mozart’s 3rd and 4th Horn Concertos, Arnold’s 2nd Horn Concerto and the Gregson Horn Concerto. In 2019 Alexei won the University of London Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and returned to perform Strauss’ 1st Horn Concerto with the orchestra in 2022. In Summer 2023 Alexei recorded several pieces for Horn and Strings as soloist with the Chamber Ensemble of London and was an artist-in-residence at Presteigne Festival, performing the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and the Brahms Horn Trio amongst others.

Alexei is a keen orchestral player and is Principal Horn of the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also played Principal Horn with the Hallé, English National Opera, Britten Sinfonia, English National Ballet Philharmonic and Glyndebourne Sinfonia. He is currently on trial for Principal Horn with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. He also regularly plays with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and English Chamber Orchestra. Alexei’s playing can also be heard on various film and television soundtracks including the recent James Bond film, “No Time To Die”.

Alexei particularly enjoys playing chamber music and has performed with the Nash Ensemble and London Winds at the Wigmore Hall and the Bath Mozartfest amongst others. He has collaborated, playing chamber music with pianists such as Joanna MacGregor, Simon Crawford-Phillips, Paul Lewis, Ivana Gavrić, Harry Rylance and with Tenors such as Nicky Spence, Mark Wilde, James Way, George Curnow and Hiroshi Amako. In 2023 he recorded Paul Reade’s Serenata for Wind Sextet with London Winds for Signum Classics. Whilst at the Academy, Alexei recorded Mozart’s Gran Partita with the Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble and Strauss’ Wind Serenades with Aldeburgh Winds, both for Linn Records.

Enquiries

Any enquiries about this section should be emailed to: brass@rrfestival.org

Accompanist

You are welcome to use your own accompanist or you can use one of our festival accompanists. See here for details.

In cases of financial need, The Cheryl King Trust (now incorporating the Robert Bouffler Music Trust) may be able to help with accompanist costs for children and young people. Please contact Barbara Barnes at barbara@cherylkingtrust.org.uk.

Rules

For a full list of the Festival’s rules and regulations see here.

Please take note of Rule 3a: it is a condition of our Surrey County Council performance licence that all performers in school years 11 and below must be accompanied by an appropriate adult at all times while at Festival venues.

In addition, the following section rules apply;

All classes are for any brass instruments;
All classes are Own Choice;
A piece can be taken from any current examination syllabus, or can be a piece appropriate to the standard of that Grade;
The adjudicator reserves the right to determine whether or not the piece is to the appropriate standard;
The time limit should allow for tuning adjustments;
A grade 8 class cannot be entered if more than a year has elapsed after achieving Grade 8.

Classes

800 Junior Non-Competitive (up to and including 18 years)
Own choice of any one piece
Fee ₤6.00
18 and younger
Up to 4 mins

801 Adult Non-Competitive
Own choice of any one piece
Fee ₤7.50
Up to 4 mins

802 Beginners
Fee ₤5.00
Up to 2 mins

803 Grades 1 & 2
Fee ₤5.00
Up to 2 mins

804 Grades 3 & 4
Fee ₤5.50
Up to 3 mins

805 Grades 5 & 6
Fee ₤6.00
Up to 4 mins

806 Grades 7 & 8
Fee ₤7.00
Up to 6 mins

807 Recital (Grades 3 & 4)
Two or three contrasting pieces.
Fee ₤7.00
Up to 6 mins

808 Recital (Grades 5 & 6)
Two or three contrasting pieces.
Fee ₤8.00
Up to 8 mins

809 Open Recital (no age restrictions)
Two or three contrasting pieces.
Fee ₤12.00
Up to 15 mins

810 Junior Duet/Trio or Quartet
A piano accompaniment may be included. One or two pieces.
Fee ₤7.00 per group
Group of 2 to 4 people
Up to 4 mins

811 Intermediate (Grades 5 & 6) Duet/Trio/Quartet
A piano accompaniment may be included. One or two pieces.
Fee ₤7.50 per group
Group of 2 to 4 people
Up to 5 mins

812 Advanced (Grades 7 & 8) Duet/Trio/Quartet
One or two pieces.
Fee ₤8.00 per group
Group of 2 to 4 people
Up to 8 mins

813 Junior Ensemble (Age 11 years and under)
For 5 or more players which may include one adult.
Fee ₤13.50 per group
Group of a minimum of 5 people
Up to 8 mins

814 Intermediate Ensemble (Age 15 years and under)
For 5 or more players which may include one adult.
Fee ₤13.50 per group
Group of a minimum of 5 people
Up to 8 mins

815 Senior Ensemble (18 years and under)
For 5 or more players.
Fee ₤13.50 per group
Group of a minimum of 5 people
18 and younger
Up to 10 mins

816 Brass Ensemble (open, no age restrictions)
For 5 or more players.
Fee ₤13.50 per group
Group of a minimum of 5 people
Up to 10 mins

817 NEW Junior Solo Fanfare (11 years and under)
Own choice of a published fanfare or own composition
Fee ₤5.50
11 and younger
Up to 3 mins

818 NEW Senior Solo Fanfare (12-18 years)
Own composition or own choice of any published fanfare.
Fee ₤6.00
Age between 12 and 18
Up to 4 mins

819 NEW Junior Group Fanfare (11 years and under)
2-4 instruments. Own composition/arrangement or own choice of any published fanfare
Fee ₤7.00 per group
Group of 2 to 4 people
11 and younger
Up to 4 mins

820 NEW Senior Group Fanfare (12-18 years)
2-4 players. Own composition/arrangement or own choice of any published fanfare
Fee ₤7.50 per group
Group of 2 to 4 people
Age between 12 and 18
Up to 4 mins

Concerto Competition
For Concerto entries, please see our Concerto Competition section.