The Queensland State Band Championships took place over the weekend of the 22nd-24th September at Somerville House in Brisbane and saw several outstanding performances from the competing bands and individual soloists.

Head to head

Brisbane Excelsior Band dominated the head-to-head A Grade battle with rivals Brisbane Brass to claim the title for the third successive year.

Led by Dale Hosking, they made it a clean sweep of the four individual disciplines with commanding performance of the set-work, 'Ballet for Band' and their own-choice selection of 'Music of the Spheres' in addition to their sacred item and stage march.

Brisbane now sets its sights on the Australian National Championships in Adelaide where they are to be directed by David Bremner from Wellington Brass. The last time they won the title was in 2016.

Unique sound

Adjudicator Peter Luff said that he had "not heard one bad performance" over the entire weekend, with each band "showing their unique sound". He felt the A Grade was very good with the B Grade bands "highlighting their different strengths and weaknesses".

He congratulated the C Grade entrant on their quality and felt that the D Grade was "the highest standard he had ever heard".

The B Grade title was won for the first time since 2016 by Brisbane Excelsior's sibling Windsor Brass conducted by Edward Kennedy.

They also provided the audience with two excellent performances in addition to their sacred item and stage march, of the test-piece, 'Luminosity' by Nancy Galbraith and their own-choice selection of 'Cross Patonce'.

Despite being the only entrant in the C Grade, Bayside Brass conducted by Damian Bowden produced two fine performances of 'Lake of the Moon' and their own-choice of Edward Gregson's 'Partita' in addition to their sacred item and march.

Cairns Brass Youth took the D Grade honours with a clean sweep of the four disciplines under MD, Jon Christodoulides helped by excellent renditions of the Overture 'Henry V' and their own-choice of Music from Kantara.

Stand out soloist

One of the standout moments of the championships was flugel horn player Tamaryn Mirabito's winning performance at the Besson Slow Melody Competition. Mirabito, representing Brisbane Excelsior Band took the honours with a sublime rendition of 'Song for Coda,' a new composition dedicated to her by Benjamin Tubb-Hearne.

The Championships also introduced the first 'Ungraded' events this year, providing a platform for bands not yet prepared for the contest stage with Narangabah Valley High School showing their potential led by Jon Adams.

The band received valuable feedback from chief adjudicator, Peter Luff, paving the way for their future growth and success.

Parade of Bands

Earlier the contest weekend started with the crowd pleasing Parade of Bands which saw Sunnybank Brass claim the 'Most Entertaining Performance' prize, while Townsville Brass' Drum Major earned well-deserved recognition, winning the Champion Drum Major Awards.

With thanks to Chris Caldo

Brisbane now sets its sights on the Australian National Championships in Adelaide where they are to be directed by David Bremner from Wellington Brass4BR

Results:

A Grade:

Set-Test: Ballet for Band (Joseph Horovitz)
Adjudicator: Peter Luff
Sacred Item/Set-Test/Own-Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Brisbane Excelsior (Dale Hosking): 98/192/198/96 = 584
2. Brisbane Brass (Joshua McKechie): 95/188/190/95 = 568

B Grade:

Set-Test: Luminosity (Nancy Galbraith)
Adjudicator: Peter Luff
Sacred Item/Set-Test/Own-Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Windsor Brass (Edward Kennedy): 85/190/187/90 = 552
2. Toowoomba Municipal (Phil Ryan): 84/185/180/85 = 534
3. Sunnybank Brass (Mark Parfitt): 86/182/179/80 = 527

C Grade:

Set-Test: Lake of the Moon (Kevin Houben)
Adjudicator: Peter Luff
Sacred item/Set-test/Own-Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Bayside Brass (Damian Bowden): 85/180/180/97 = 542

D Grade:

Set-Test: Overture: Henry V (Vaughan Williams)
Adjudicator: Peter Luff
Sacred item/Set-test/Own-Choice/Stage March = Total

1. Cairns Brass Youth Band (Jon Christodoulides): 95/192/190/92 = 569
2. Brisbane Brass 3 (Emily Matthews/Med McWilliams): 90/187/187/90 = 544

Junior Brass:

Own Choice programme
Adjudicator: Peter Luff
Own-Choice/Hymn/Stage March = Total

1. Narangbah Valley SHS (Jon Adams): 184/90/85 = 359