Brisbane Excelsior reinforced its position as the premier band in Australia after retaining their grip on the National title following two days of exciting contesting in their home city on the Easter weekend.

It was the seventh time since 2005 that the band had claimed the famous ‘Fireman’s Helmet’ Trophy, with all victories coming under the baton of MD Howard Taylor.

Musical stops

It was also the third time during that period that they had been victorious in their home city, with their latest success enjoyed by supporters and neutrals alike at the impressive Edmund Rice Performing Arts Centre at St Laurence College.

Brisbane had to out all the musical stops however to gain victory, as the final results revealed that the contesting fortunes of a number of leading contenders had fluctuated greatly over the four separate disciplines of hymn, set work, own choice test piece and march.

Darebin lead

It was Darebin City under ex Grimethorpe principal cornet Tom Paulin who impressed adjudicator Nigel Weeks the most after the first day, as they delivered a fine performance of the set work ‘St Magnus’ to go with their hymn tune selection of ‘In Perfect Peace’.

Just half a point behind was South Brisbane Federal directed by Louisa Lawless, with Brisbane languishing in fifth place behind Brisbane Brass.

A Tale As Yet Untold

However, Howard Taylor inspired his band to produce a brace of outstanding performances on Philip Sparke’s ‘A Tale As Yet Untold’ and the march ‘Ravenswood’.

It enabled them to secure a narrow two point winning margin over South Brisbane Federal, with Darebin City in third, as neither band was able to manage error free performances of their own choice test piece selections or marches.

It was Glenorchy City Concert Brass that eventually pushed the winner’s closest on the day with fine renditions of ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ and the march’ Invincible’.

Celebration curry

Brisbane’s victory was celebrated with a curry at one of the city’s fine culinary establishments where the MD told 4BR that the latest National success was one of the most satisfying.

"I believe the band felt the most reward and satisfaction from this win than perhaps any we have enjoyed so far,"Howard Taylor said.

“We knew we had to perform exceptionally well on the second day and our performance of ‘A Tale As Yet Untold’ was some of the best music we have ever performed on a contest platform.”

Tribute

Howard also paid tribute to his band, giving a special thank you to his veteran horn player Steve Ridler who will be returning to the UK in the next month. He has spent the last 14 years with the band and has been the only player to have played on all seven National victories under Howard’s baton.

He added: "Steve has been a wonderful player and friend — and will be sorely missed."

In the other sections, there were victories for Townsville Brass Band directed by Dale Hosking, Darebin City Brass/Northern Brass conducted by Jamie Lawson and Goldfields Brass Band led by Keith Nicholas.

We knew we had to perform exceptionally well on the second day and our performance of ‘A Tale As Yet Untold’ was some of the best music we have ever performed on a contest platformHoward Taylor

Results:

A Grade:
Adjudicator: Nigel Weeks
Hymn/Test/Own Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Brisbane Excelsior (Howard Taylor): 42/186/194/44 = 466
2. South Brisbane Federal (Louisa Lawless): 44/191/187/42 = 464
3. Darebin City Brass — Preston Band (Tom Paulin): 44.5/192/185/40.5 = 462
4. Brisbane Brass 1 (Bill Barker): 43.5/190/183/42.5 = 459
5. Glenorchy City Concert Brass (Simon Cawthorn): 41/179/193/43.5 = 456.5
6. Kew Band Melbourne (Kenneth MacDonald): 40.5/183/186.5/41 = 451
7. Warringah Concert Brass (John Saunders): 39.5/178/189/43 = 449.5
8. St. Mary's District Band (Ben Crocker): 41/184/183.5/40 = 448.5
9. Footscray-Yarraville City Band (Phillipa Edwards): 40/182/182.5/41.5 = 446
10. City of Holroyd Brass Band (Andy Yule): 37/180/184/40.5 = 441.5
11= Willoughby Band (Mark Strykowski): 40/177/182.5/41 = 440.5
11= Immortal Brass Eternally (Kenji Miyamoto): 41/175/183/41.5 = 440.5
13. Boroondara Brass (Daniel Van Bergen): 38/172/181/38 = 429

B Grade:
Adjudicator: Barrie Gott
Hymn/Test/Own Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Townsville Brass Band (Dale Hosking): 47/195/192/45 = 479
2 = Central Coast Brass (Conrad Curry): 44/192/194/47 = 477
2 = Box Hill City Band (Dr Matthew van Emmerik): 43/191/195/48 = 477
4. Brisbane Brass 2 (Joshua McKechie): 46/192/193/42 = 473
5. Marion City Band (Veronica Boulton): 45/196/188/40 = 469
6. Toronto Brass (Tim O'Hearn): 41/193/191/41 = 466
7. Toowoomba Municipal 1 (Lorraine Fuller): 38/189/192/44 = 463
8. City of Greater Dandenong Band (Michael Mathers): 41/188/189/44 = 462
9. Geelong West Brass Band (Jeff Steele): 40/194/187/38 = 459
10. Canberra Brass (Viv Martin): 37/187/190/41 = 455
11. Surfers Paradise Brass (Scott King): 36/184/190/39 = 449
12. Sunnybank Brass 1 (John Kennedy): 36/183/190/39 = 448

C Grade:
Adjudicator: Bryan Hurdley
Hymn/Test/Own Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Darebin City Brass/Northern Brass (Jamie Lawson): 44/186/186/45 = 461
2. Warringah Community Brass (John Saunders): 45/182/178/42 = 447
3 = Bundaberg Municipal Band (Derek Moule): 41/184/180/39 = 444
3 = City of Greater Bendigo Brass Band (Cally Bartlett): 43/178/182/41 = 444
5. Boroondara Harmony Brass (Mateusz Gwizdalla): 38/172/184/44 = 438
6. Sunshine Brass (Peter Stonehouse): 42/180/174/40 = 436
7. Bankstown City Brass (John Tweed): 39/174/176/38 = 427
8. Toowoomba Municipal 2 (Amy Ritter): 35/170/172/43 = 420
9. Brisbane Brass 3 (Philip Ryan): 40/176/166/35 = 417
10. Sunnybank Brass 2 (Catherine Reid): 37/166/170/37 = 410
11. Yellow Cabs Bayside Brass (Ivan Cocking): 36/168/168/36 = 408

D Grade:
Adjudicator: Edward Kennedy
Hymn/Test/Own Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Goldfields Brass Band (Keith Nicholas): 37/174/177/40 = 428
2 = Brolga Brass Band (Claire Dickson): 35/170/176/41 = 422
2 = Warriparinga Brass (Veronica Boulton): 36/175/172/39 = 422
4. Brisbane Brass 4 (Elena Katahanas): 33/169/175/39 = 416
5. Thuringowa Brass Band (Dave Finaly): 33/169/172/38 = 412
6. Sunnybank Brass 3 (Nathaniel Griffiths): 33/168/168/37 = 406