Music News 

Instrument  Donation

Instrument Donation

Ray Walls was born into a mining community where brass band music was a popular form of live entertainment. He learned to play cornet but was more taken with the sound of Jazz than Brass Bands. He played in many bands around Bendigo, several times a week. He regularly travelled to Melbourne to listen to the top local bands of the time, and also played with some of the top jazz musicians of the 1950s such as Bob and Len Barnard, and Frank Traynor. He moved to Korumburra as the Shire Engineer in 1969 and was soon involved with other local musicians with similar tastes. 

Jam sessions soon led to the group being asked to play at local events, and then to regular sessions at the Netherlander restaurant and the Loch pub on Sunday afternoons. His particular love was for Dixieland jazz, and although he could play saxophone and other instruments, it was the cornet that he used to bring those sounds to life. Every evening, he would play the major and minor scales and a few tunes to keep his skills up. Ray was also a big supporter of Korumburra High School, serving on the School Council for many years and was always available to talk to school groups about local history.  This cornet was bought very late in life to replace one that he had for fifty years. 

We hope that the students of the music program find as much enjoyment in the cornet as he did. All four of Ray and Wilma’s children attended Korumburra High School, so it gives the family great pleasure to be able to present it to the Korumburra Secondary College Instrumental Music Program in memory of Ray Walls.