At the unforgiving time of 6am members boarded the bus set for the 3 hour drive south west to Warwick, for a weekend of rehearsals culminating in a concert.

Warwick City Band past President and Conductor Ian MacDonald had kindly invited the band up for a weekend, and Ian Darnell organised the bands once on Warwick.

Working together

The bands worked together as massed bands under Warwick City Band conductor, Brendan Babbington and Brisbane Brass Musical Director, Greg Aitken, to prepare for a Sunday concert for the Warwick community in the historic Warwick Town Hall.

Rehearsal sessions, in between lots of coffee and great food, also involved sectionals with senior members of Brisbane Brass assisting some of the Warwick players.

Brisbane Brass also found time to break down into sectionals to work on its contest pieces for the Australian Nationals.

Community Concert

It was great to see so many local faces come out and support the band and their visitors. The first half of the program was the massed band, performing a number of works including: Deep Harmony, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hit the Road Jack and Brisbane Brass’s favourite, Swing When You’re Winning, a medley of Robbie Williams tunes.

Following a short interval Brisbane Brass took the stage to perform the second half. Special mention should go to Kaid Normington for his exquisite playing in Georgia on my Mind and Bill Barker for his outstanding performance of Grandfather’s Clock. The audience was extremely appreciative of our soloist’s and the bands performance.

All in all, a highly productive weekend, which helped foster relationships between these two bands and spread the spirit of brass banding.

Funding

The weekend was funded by the Queensland Regional Arts Development Fund.