There has been welcome brass band activity taking place in New Zealand over the past few weeks, culminating in the National Band undertaking a concert performance in Hamilton recently.

The 2020 National Secondary Schools' Bands have also met, with the decision to split into two ensembles in camps in the south and north islands in response to the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions, proving to be a success.

Worked a treat

In a report in the 'Mouthpiece' magazine, the official journal of the Brass Band Association of New Zealand (BBANZ) said that although there were some initial concerns whether things would work, the decision "worked a treat!"

The South Island camp took place in Christchurch Boy's High School with the North Island camp in Taupo. The guest soloist who played with both ensembles was Belgian cornet star Harmen Vanhoorne who now lives in the country.

In an interview with Andrew Snell, MD of the band, he said that the decision to split the main band was made to help further encourage and develop as many of the next generation of players as possible.

"85 players across the two camps show the depth of young talent we have across banding in New Zealand. Sure, the standard was perhaps more varied than in previous years. Still, those younger, less experienced players will have learned heaps, had a great time and will return to their bands as better players. That's got to be good for all of us."

New players

Andrew highlighted that 55 players from 36 different bands had never played in the NSSBB before. Each camp band rehearsed for around 14 hours over three days, plus an additional five hours of sectionals.

Both then gave concerts attended by over 150 people plus an online audience through a live stream, with music performed including Edward Gregson's 'Variations on Laudate Dominum'.

At a time when there is little to no banding activity anywhere else in the world, I'm very aware of how lucky I was to get to work with these wonderful young peopleDave Bremner

Improvements

Andrew added: "We had two magnificent teams of tutors for the camps, who taught the players so much in such a short space of time. The improvements in both bands from the first rehearsal to the concert performances were incredible.

At a time when there is little to no banding activity anywhere else in the world, I'm very aware of how lucky I was to get to work with these wonderful young people.

Now we move into the review stage, with tutors and band members being asked for their feedback. While the camps were a great success, inevitably we didn't get everything right, and we need the feedback (good and bad) to ensure that next year's NSSBB is even better."

In response to the courses, John Sullivan, BBANZ President said: "These fine young adults are not only highly talented musicians, but many will make inspirational leaders in the years ahead. The future of our movement is very bright indeed."