It’s been a busy time at the Nelson Brass Academy.

CSO Quintet visit Nelson

Last week they were visited by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra Brass quintet. The Quintet was in Nelson as part of an Outreach tour sponsored by the Lion Foundation and Solid Energy.

They toured various schools in the Nelson Tasman region and visited two Academy ensembles, the Intermediate Band, and the Rotoiti Band.

The first port of call for the Quintet was St Arnaud, to play a concert to the Lake Rotoiti School. This was followed by a workshop where the players joined the Rotoiti band. One of the band members was very excited by the day, ‘It was fun and they're amazing players. When I heard them, I thought I wanted to be like them.’

Academy Director Nick Sharpe commented on the group, 'It was great to see a group of people who enjoyed playing together so much, I believe it’s this enjoyment that provides the inspiration to all of our young players to keep on playing and progressing.'

A couple of days later, the Christchurch Quintet gathered to meet the Nelson Intermediate Brass Band to provide sectionals, and also work with the band in a full rehearsal situation.

Nick Sharpe’s enthusiasm and dedication to music education is inspiring.Thomas Eves, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra

Thomas Eves, CSO trumpet player and National Bandsman was evidently impressed with the Nelson Brass Academy, ‘Our next generation of musicians are bringing to this band a pool of talent which shows great promise for the New Zealand brass band scene. Nick Sharpe’s enthusiasm and dedication to music education is inspiring. These young musicians will discover and share his great passion for music making.’

Growth

The Academy Bands’ schedule has also included a guest appearance by the Intermediate band at the West Coast Provincial Contest, concerts in Nelson at the end of each school term, and a prestigious appearance for the Intermediate band at the Top of the South Lions Conference.

The Junior band continues to grow, with a current membership of around 47 players, including a group of 6 parents!

National Representation

There has been National success for Academy members. Danielle McQuinn (3rd cornet), Madeleine Burton (1st horn), and Yohei Mikawa (bass trombone) have been selected for the 2009 National Secondary Schools band which meets in Christchurch next month. Yohei said that he was “really stoked” to have been selected. The selection of these three young players shows that dedication and commitment leads to success. (Both Danielle and Yohei are past recipients of the “Nelson Youth Bandsperson of the Year” award, for 2007 and 2008 respectively)

To top it all off, Louise Moroney is a member of the 2009 National Youth Band of New Zealand, who toured Japan in July. Louise said, ‘My trip to Japan was fanstastic, mixing with great musicians such as Riki McDonell [guest soloist for the tour] and travelling with such an enthused group of young musicians was an experience I will always remember.’

More to come

Upcoming projects for the Academy include another exhaustive tour of Nelson Tasman primary schools by Academy Director Nick Sharpe and new Nelson City Brass conductor, Mick Dowrick; the much talked about visit to Nelson by the BBANZ director of Education, David Bremner; Band Camp 2009; and preparations for the Intermediate Band to attend next years National Contest in Dunedin.