Darebin City Brass

Conductor: Jason Mears
Soloist: Alexandra Kerwin
Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre
Preston (VIC)
Friday May 27th

After a phone call from Chris Earl (Australia's Band World), a well known brass band promoter, Darebin City Brass (VIC) agreed to host international brass soloist Alexandra Kerwin in a one-off concert at the Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre in Preston.

Alexandra arrived in Melbourne on 26th May, 2005, from Auckland where she now resides and plays with Waitakeri Band. She went straight from the Tullamarine Airport to the Darebin bandroom for her first and only rehearsal with the band. Although she had just completed an arduous flight from New Zealand, she jumped straight into the rehearsal with enthusiasm and left the band in no doubts as to her ability. She worked positively with the Musical Director Jason Mears who had the band well prepared for the event.

The concert took place on Friday 27th May, 2005, to a full hall of people who waited in anticipation. The audience included several high profile members of the brass band world in Melbourne.

Alexandra opened with the solo 'Demelza' (Hugh Nash) which she played on the soprano cornet, followed by an arrangement for soprano by Ray Farr 'Gethsemane' from 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.

Her quality of sound, texture, and musicality was a privilege to listen to, with a timbre rarely heard in this country. The audience was spell bound.

After a number of items from the band, Alex returned to play a duet with Principal Euphonium player John Kelly. She then followed up with a fantastic rendition of Barrie Gott's solo 'Song of Hope'.

The band pleased the audience with a variety of entertaining pieces and Alexandra concluded the concert with the Aagaard-Nielsen arrangement of 'Vitae Lux' and the Ray Farr arrangement of 'On with the Motley'.

It was a pleasure for the band to be involved with someone of Alexandra Kerwin's obvious ability, however, it was not only her fantastic playing that was a highlight of the weekend: Alexandra spent most of Friday 27th of May and all day Saturday 28th May conducting one-on-one lessons and clinics for the younger members of Darebin City Brass. She also attended the local community radio station to give an overview of her experiences in the British brass band scene at the highest level and promoted the concert.

Alex offered her advice and experience to the band as a whole. The feedback from Alexandra was exceptionally positive in terms of the abilities and potential of our younger players who in turn thought that the lessons and advice imparted by Alexandra was something special. Her involvement will no doubt assist these players to improve even further in the future.

The band was most impressed with her attitude both professionally and socially, and were delighted to be involved with her during this weekend. The band feels that inviting Alexandra to play at this concert is an investment in the future, and we wish to thank her for her commitment both on and off the stage.

Peter Caldwell
Darebin Brass

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