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Allowing professional players in brassbands

Dear listmember,

I would like to (re)open the discussion about allowing professional
players in a
brassband.

Nowadays, professional players are not allowed to enter the Belgian
national
brassband championship. Professional players are more or less defined as
players
who earn their money from joining a professional orchestra or from
teaching
brass in a music-academy, regardless the instrument. E.g. a trumpet player
from
a registered Belgian symphonic orchestra is not allowed to play cornet in
a
band, nor can he play trombone. Not even a professional violin player or
singer
would be allowed to play say bass tuba. 

A prof is only allowed if he/she once started as an amateur and as such
registered during at least 5 consecutive years with the same band. If
he/she
changes from band he/she starts again from zero.

Profs were allowed some 20 years ago when the bandmovement started in
Belgium .
However, in that time bands hired professional players just for the
contest
because their own players were not good enough, or they did not have
enough
players and so on. The bands with the best relations, the highest bid and
so
on,... won the contest. This was indeed quite unfair to bands who tried
their
best with their own *weak* players. To prevent this, different rules were
set. 
After 20 years we still have the same rules although by the time the whole
movement has been improved in all standards (thanks God).

The rule has quite some disadvantages, e.g.:
1. we have to refuse professional players who would like to play with us.
They
don*t want any money (at the end, we are not sponsored), they just like to
play
brassband and enjoy it as an amateur.
2. If an amateur becomes prof after say 5 years, he/she can not switch
anymore
although having good reasons like: the band does not exist anymore, he/she
has
problems with the conductor or vice-versa, it is not interesting anymore
to play
for that band and so on. So, players are condemned to play for one band or
to
leave the movement
3. We see some bands now start to pay amateur-players. At the end what is
the
difference with paying a prof or is non-paid prof not better then a paid
amateur?

On the other hand, it also has its benefits:
1. the level of amateur playing is forced to increase. Meanwhile, the
Belgian
movement has evolved to a level professional players are not always
improving
the result surely not if they just come for one rehearsal and a concert/con=
test,
on the contrary. Belgian Brassband Willebroek took the European brassband
title
in Plymouth  in 1993. I was playing with Willebroek in that time already
for 9
years and I can state 100 % of the players were own amateur players, all
playing
at least during 2 years with the band.
2. Brassbands are trying to attract youth-players early to play brassband,
they
start up youth bands,...
3. Contests are quite fair and bands show up with their own players. A
band on
the contest is the same as after the contest.

I guess the Belgian federation scares history will repeat itself and bands
still
need to be protected against themselves.

Although I do not really know about their specific arrangements I guess
the most
actual example in the UK is the *use* of Roger Webster and Steven Mead in
CWS
Glasgow. Also not so long ago the UK changed its rules to allow professiona=
l
players.

What are yor experiences, pros and contras with allowing professional
players?
Should Belgium adapt its rules? In which way and why (not)? What are the
rules
in your country, did they evolve from a similar situation and is the
situation
better now then before?

Thanks for any reaction.
Regards,

Edy Van Asch
Tenor Horn
Metropole Brass Band


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