The Woolston Band made it a National ‘double’ in Timaru on the weekend when they took the Band of the Year Entertainment title to add to their Championship success.

High quality

Directed by Graham Hickman, the Christchurch band produced a high quality 75th anniversary tribute to the Royal New Zealand Air Force, which included music from all its eras, complete with striking visual accompaniment, signing and choreography.

The band opened with the ‘Royal Air Force March Past’ before moving thorough, ’Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines’ and ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’, featuring young xylophonist Hamish Upton.

‘633 Squadron’ and a selection of classic Second World Wars songs such as ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ complete with vocals led into the powerful finale of Stephen Bulla’s ‘Operation Desert Storm’.

Emotional highlight

The judges, Dr Robert Childs and David Childs, as well as the audience at the Theatre Royal were treated to very solidly performed programmes from the three competitors, with the undoubted emotional highlight coming from Alpine Energy Timaru Brass.

They ended their programme with MD, Dwayne Bloomfield’s hauntingly intense ‘7.1’, which recreated the physical as well as emotional after effects of the terrifying 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the Christchurch (which was to have hosted these Championships) in February last year.

10 bass drums positioned at various points around the blacked out theatre followed by the beams of rescuer's torchlights provided a stark reminder of one of New Zealand’s darkest hours.

New York traveller

The band also featured Olympic themed opener to bookend a finale from Peter Graham’s ‘Cossack Wedding’, with a superb solo from Anthony Smith who travelled all the way from New York to perform the ‘Harry James Trumpet Concerto’ sandwiched in between.

10 bass drums positioned at various points around the blacked out theatre followed by the beams of rescuer's torchlights provided a stark reminder of one of New Zealand’s darkest hours4BR

American theme

Meanwhile, Leopard Coachlines Canterbury Brass under Tyme Marsters opened the contest with something of an American theme, with music from ‘Mission Impossible’ and Sousa’s ‘Stars and Stripes’ linked by a fine horn solo from Bill Vail on the ‘Finale’ from the Mendelsshon ‘Horn Concerto’ before closing with ‘Reunion and Finale’ from ‘Gettysburg’.

Results:

Band of the Year Winner: Woolston Brass (Graham Hickman)
Soloist of the concert — Anthony Smith, Alpine Energy Timaru