Spectacular Classics: Capricornia Silver Band

Classical Music is alive and well in Central Queensland thanks to Dennis Ilott and the Capricornia Silver Band.

I was fortunate enough to visit Rockhampton last weekend where the Capricornia Silver Band held a wonderful concert.

Capricornia Silver Band

The program called "SPECTACULAR CLASSICS" consisted of a wide range of classical pieces not only for the Band but also for vocal and Pianoforte.

Amanda O'Brien, Soprano, gave a brilliant rendition of items by Bizet and Puccini.  Amanda has been teaching, directing and performing in Central Queensland for some 15 years and has been featured on recordings with the Capricornia Silver Band.

Mary Steer performed some outstanding renditions of Beethoven, Grandos, Sibelius on Pianoforte.  Mary is currently the resident pianist for ABC Radio Capricornia and has been the official accompanist at Queensland Brass Band Championships. 

Solos were played by several members of the band and all performed with great aplomb.  Not being biased (an ex horn player) my favourite was Rondo from Mozart's Horn Concerto in Eb, No.4 which was played on the Baritone by Ian Everitt.  Bravo Ian.

We all know however that there is no such thing as a "perfect" performance and whilst all the soloists did have their moments, these were only minor and in no way detracted from their overall performance.

The major piece of the concert was "Un bel di" (One Fine Day) from "Madame Butterfly" by Puccini and there were a couple of nervous moments when the band and soloist were not quite together.

At the end of the concert the audience were expecting an encore and to the delight of everyone Dennis asked Amanda if she would like to perform "Un bel di" again. I felt both the Band and Soloist were much more relaxed the second time and that this was by far the better performance.

The audience of about 250 to 300 was thrilled at being able to hear some of the classics being played LIVE.  This type of concert is something that we in the city tend to take for granted as there is so much available to us.  Full credit to Dennis and his advisers.  They did a marvellous job in putting this programme together.

There must be times when Dennis doesn't know if he will have a full band as there are some who travel as far away as Blackwater (about a three hour drive) and Biloela (that's only about 2 hours away) and Gladstone (only about an hour away).  Many of the travellers hold principal positions in the Band.  That's what I call commitment.

The Capricornia Brass Academy (the junior Cap Silver Band) performed some light entertainment before the concert and it was great to see so many up and coming young players.  Keep it up guys and girls.

Congratulations on a job well done and a delightful afternoon of live musical entertainment.

Helen Lashmar

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