National Band Championships
Musical adventures in Newcastle
After months of gruelling preparation, a group of elite music students had to opportunity to compete at the National Band Championships in Newcastle over Easter.
We began our journey on Wednesday, which saw our Jetstar flight leave on time, and 90 minutes later, we arrived at the air force base that is Newcastle airport. We were greeted by the lovely sounds of F-18s and F-35s doing plane things. It was music to our ears.
On Thursday, we were treated to an inspiring walking tour of the Newcastle area, by “faux local”, Cindy Frost. The tour showed us some of the many sights to see in the city, including parts of the grand prix track, and the harbour, and a particular highlight, seeing the light rail track. After this, we visited the museum, which was full of lots of epic things, including a display to commemorate BHP! We followed the museum with dinner and then squeezed in an evening rehearsal before Friday.
Friday was excellent. In the morning we established that Brass instruments were superior to woodwind and percussion. (Through a series of games and competitions). After this, we hopped on a coach for Nelson’s Bay. After arriving at Nelson’s Bay and buying lunch, we boarded a boat for what I was assured wasn’t a 3-hour tour. We saw some dolphins which was exciting. We didn’t swim with them because the dolphins would be too slow. After the boat parked and we disembarked, we entered the coach for the drive back to Newcastle, had dinner and then went to the Town hall to hear some B Grade Brass Bands play.
Saturday was our last day in the city of which BHP left 24 years ago. We were all up nice and early for a big day ahead of us. After leaving our serviced apartments in the heart of the CBD, we walked to the Conservatorium of music, and after a bit of time waiting around, The Northcote High School Brass Ensemble was on stage and playing their Hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong To Save” and their test piece, “Fanfare, Theme & Finale for HPs!”. The performance was followed by a short break, and then the ensemble went on again to perform their march, “St Kilda”, and their own Choice, “Moon River”. The ensemble scored 489 points across the 4 pieces, which resulted in an exceptional (and well deserved) second place for the section.
After lunch on Saturday it was the turn of the Concert Band. Unlike the brass section, which was split into two performances, the concert band would have to play in one gruelling sitting. We began with our stage march, “The Victorian Rifles”, followed by the test piece, “Overture Spiritoso” then our hymn, “Hyfrydol”, finishing with our own choice, “Night on Bald Mountain” (a highlight was seeing our Maestro, Alastair McGrath-Kerr, turn his conducting up to eleven during this piece). The concert band overall scored 503 points which translated into third place, which was excellent (and well deserved).
This concluded our time in Newcastle as we hopped on a bus bound for Sydney Airport (via subway Berowra). During this bus trip, it was discovered that Jetstar had cancelled the flight, which resulted in an extra night at the airport-adjacent mantra. Luckily a flight had been arranged for the following morning, which only resulted in an extension to our trip by about 10 hours.
Overall, the trip was exceptional and an awesome experience for everyone involved. Furthermore, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude’s to our musical directors, Josh Dulfer and Alastair McGrath-Kerr, for all their hard work and dedication (and patience), additionally, a huge thanks to Jackie Brogan, as well Kirsten Kelly-Cleeve for all their organisation and putting the entire tour together, and thanks as well to tour guide, Cindy Frost. The whole tour was tremendous, and we will begin our preparation for Adelaide 2024 shortly.
~Mac R and Tom L, Band Captains.
