Congratulations Wollongong Brass Bands!

Congratulations to our Junior and Senior Brass Bands and their respective musical directors Des Cannings and Jonathan Gatt on their performances in the 2019 NSW State Band Championships!

Both bands performed extremely well on the day, and faced some tough competition.

The Junior band became the NSW Junior C Grade champions, and even more impressive was their 3rd placing in Open D Grade where they competed as a Junior band against a range of adult bands.

The Senior band also performed well in Open C Grade, placing 4th in the hotly contested division.

Congratulations to all the bands that competed in the championships, we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

Congratulations Wollongong Wind Band!

Congratulations to our Wind Band and musical director Leanne Walton taking out 2nd place in the Open D Concert section at the 2019 NSW State Band Championships!

It was a great result for the band, and their first time in competition. The scores were very close, the Wind Band was just 6 points (out of a possible 250 points) behind the winners, Hills Music Academy.

Congratulations to all the bands that competed on the first day, and best wishes to our Junior and Senior Brass bands and all the bands competing on day 2.

The Road to States 2019

The NSW State Band Championships are just around the corner now, and everything is coming together for our bands in their final rehearsals this week. There will be bands competing all weekend on 24 and 25 August, so please come along to “The Joan” at Penrith and show your support. If you can’t make it in person, you can always catch the live stream at www.brassbanned.com (if you miss the band you’re looking for, the stream now has a 4 hour “rewind”).

This year Wollongong has 3 bands competing in 4 categories:

  • Open C Grade Brass
  • Open D Grade Brass (Junior Band)
  • Junior C Grade Brass
  • Open D Grade Concert

The full weekend timetable is available from the NSW Band Association.

On Saturday our Senior Wind band will take the stage for the first time competing in Open D grade. For many of the band members it’ll also be their first time in competition.

Sunday will be a busy day for our Junior Brass band as they compete in both the Junior C and Open D grades. Some of the juniors will also be playing with the Senior Brass band in Open C grade, and some will have already performed on Saturday in the concert band competition (if you’re keeping count, yes, that means they will have played in all the events our bands have entered, we fully expect they’ll be exhausted by the end of it!).

It’s going to be a big weekend no matter what the outcome. We’re looking forward to the challenge, and best wishes to all the bands competing this year.

Band Championship Preparations

The NSW State Band Championships are just around the corner now, and our 3 competition bands are working hard to prepare for the contest.

Senior Brass works on Hymn for Diana

This weekend we’ve had the special privilege of a visit from Andrew Snell, who’s travelled all the way from Christchurch, New Zealand to run a weekend of workshops for our bands.

The weekend has been demanding and rewarding in equal measure, as Andrew has pushed us towards the next level of musical performance and interpretation.

Junior Brass prepares for Open D Grade

A big “Thank You” to Andrew from all the bands for his time and effort, and to our Junior Band MD Des Cannings for organising the workshops.