The National Youth Brass Band of New Zealand will be holding its annual course in Christchurch from 15th January.

Led by Musical Director Tyme Marsters, the band will undertake a short concert tour of performances in Westport, Blenheim and Christchurch, with the final concert being live-steamed across the world.

Varied programme

The band will be performing a varied programme of music entitled, 'Te Wa Heke Mai: The Future' — an appropriate ambition with Tyme Marsters starting his three year tenure as MD this year. His assistant MD is the renowned tuba player and professional musician Phil Johnston.

The major work being tackled this year is the virtuosic 'Arabian Nights: Fantasy on Rimsky Korsakov's Scheherazade for Brass Band', whilst the concerts will also feature the premiere performances of 'Te Wa Heke Mai: The Future', a commission written for the 2023 band course by former member, Dale Vail.

Exceptional talent

Band Manger Emily Richards told 4BR: "It really is about the future with this course. We are fortunate to have some exceptional young leaders in the band, including Liam Wright's first appearance as principal cornet, and Jeshua Oram who won the Open Eb Bass solo title at the 2022 National Championships.

Our featured soloist this year is also an extraordinary tuba player in Nic Scott from Christchurch who currently plays with Wellington Brass."

Tour dates:

Thursday 19th January
NBS Theatre in Westport (7.00pm)

Friday 20th January
ASB Marlborough Theatre in Blenheim (7.00pm)

Saturday 21st January
Ngaio Marsh Theatre in Christchurch (4.00pm)

The Christchurch concert will be livestreamed at 4.00pm on Saturday 21 January (NZ time) through the NYBBNZ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nznybb/