In 1991 our association has found the courage to get out of its shell, and we have launched out of Italian borders. Thanks to the contact between some emigrants in Germany who are close to our band, we have been invited to Herrenberg, near Stuttgard, from a prestigious Stadtkapelle that literally opened our eyes on a new way of thinking the relationship between the enthusiasts of band music. After this “revelation” we wanted to get used to this great way to meet musicians like us in such different realities. After inviting our German friends we were invited again in Herrenberg in 1993. Other contacts brought us to meet the fanfare “Concordia” of Vetroz, in Switzerland, known to be one of the best fanfares in Europe, and we were invited there once more in 1996. The “circle” had started to widen and the name of our band could spread in the European circuit. In 1994 we were invited to represent Italy in Schlema, formerly East Germany, near Dresda, in a massive band gathering where we could meet musicians from every part of Europe. A true binge of music, fun and friendship (together with beer and suaerkrauts). We were invited there once again in 1999. During the years our experience in the international music field led us to organise, in 1999, a gathering with some European friends, and we hosted in Darfo, all together at once, the Stadtkapelle from Herrenberg, the Bergmannsblasorchester Kurbad Schlema from the formerly East Germany, Harmonie Municipale Esch-sur-Alzette from Luxembourg, Puhkpilliorkester Tartu from Estonia, Sociedad Joventud Musical de Faura from Spain and Harmonie Tarare from France. Of course our attention in organising this sort of meetings is not only for abroad: together with the bands that we meet and host in our region, it is our intention to meet groups from other regions that can enrich our experience. For example, in 2005 we were hosts of the Music Society of Segromigno in Monte, Lucca (Tuscany), the land of Puccini, where the first meeting brought along strong friendships. Those who would like to meet us “live”, please do not hesitate to contact us. Naturalmente la nostra attenzione a questa forma di incontro non è solo indirizzata all’estero.

There aren’t many participations of our band to music contests. There has been one at “Bande in Pedana” (”Bands on the dais”) in 1987, in Porlezza, on the lake of Lugano; the second contest was again in 1987 at the first regional contest of Lombardy. Both times we arrived third. However, the most important participation to such an event, that is playing in front of a qualified jury, was in 2002 in Grumello del Monte, Bergamo. That was a contest of “classification”, that is not a contest between bands but the performance in front of a jury that would afterwards assign evaluation marks according to the WASBE criteria, on the technical and artistic point of view, thus placing the performance of the band on an internationally recognised level. From the bottom to the top the categories were: third, second, first, and excellence, the latter being for semiprofessional groups. Our band was classified a first category band with the final score of 310/360, a result that filled us with joy, since we are all amateurs and very young too (average 25 years old), and since we had no extra help from professionals either.