Three4One - Mitcham City Brass
22-Mar-2007Mitcham City Brass - Combined Concert also featuring T-Bones Unlimited (Bill Broughton) and Soul Factor Gospel Choir
Musical Director: Peter Smith
Dom Polski Centre, Adelaide
Saturday 17th March
The annual Fringe Festival held in Adelaide is the biggest arts festival of its kind in Australia and impressively the second largest Fringe Festival in the World.
Adelaide Fringe 07 boasts 406 events spread over a three week period in March, with 323 Performing Arts events and 83 Visual Arts exhibitions. A strong contingent of 60 events have been registered from a variety of countries including Portugal, Japan, Ireland, Italy, Canada, USA, UK and more.
A total of 346 Australian artists have registered, with 219 from South Australia and 128 from interstate. All art forms have been strongly represented with comedy making up 99 of the total events.
Music came in strongly with 89 events and Visual Arts was not far behind with 83 exhibitions.
Indeed the Fringe Festival program covers every possible artistic genre.
In 2006, we reviewed Three4One. That year it was the triage of Mitcham City Brass, Holdfast Bay Concert Band and Soul Factor Gospel Choir. In 2006 Mitcham City Brass was the only Brass Band to register and take part in the Fringe Festival.
One year on, with the festival in full swing we are to be treated to 5 Concerts featuring Brass Bands as part of the Fringe Festival 07.
For this years ‘Three4One' Concert, Mitcham City Brass, teamed up with T-Bones Unlimited (Bill Broughton) and again Soul Factor Gospel Choir- MD Sharon Raymond. Venue was the Dom Polski Centre in Angus Street, Central Adelaide. This is a more sizable venue than last years Adelaide German Club. The band opted for Cabaret seating and a sizable audience gathered.
Mitcham City Brass and Musical Director Peter Smith, are creating a fine reputation for quality Brass Band performances. In 2005 Mitcham took out the C Grade title in the highly competitive C Grade section of the SA State Competitions.
In the intervening period, the band has embarked on a recruitment drive to underpin its continued development and with some success has filled positions that will provide a more solid platform in the middle section of the band.
With all this in mind, we were keen to check where Mitcham City Brass had progressed.
Mitcham City Bass opened their Three4One performance with Phantom of the Opera (overture Act 1) Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber arr. Keith Wilkinson. The band obviously enjoys this piece as they also performed it in their 2006 Three4One Concert. Breezin' Down Broadway arr. Goff Richards followed.
In an interesting move, Musical Director Peter Smith selected to perform Oregon by Jacob de Haan. This piece was the set Test Piece for the C Grade section of the South Australian State Competitions in 2006. The opening was well executed and immediately evident was a more full and a rich sound from the middle section and the bass section of the band. Overall the piece flowed well and Musical Director Peter Smith payed careful attention to the dynamic markings.
Memory by Andrew Lloyd Webber arr Goff Richards was next and the 1st half bracket concluded with a wonderful performance of a The Man from Snowy River - Bruce Rowland arr. Joe Cook
Mitcham opened their second segment with the Theme from Jag - Bruce Broughton arr. Roland Kernen.
Born Free - John Barry arr. Alan Catherall followed and in one of the strongest indicators yet of where the band in now sitting musically, presented an immaculate performance of Pirates of the Caribbean - Klaus Badelt arr. John Blanken
The band then treated the audience to another Andrew Lloyd Webber piece with Close Every Door arr. Ray Steadman-Allen and ended the show with Grease and the well known Clog Dance.
This was a very different Mitcham City Brass.
In 2006 when we reviewed Mitcham's Three4One we said the band was: ‘…evident from their on-stage performance, their deportment and the nature and scope of pieces that they are willing to perform on stage that they are a band with a future'.
One year one and in 2007 for Three4One we witnessed a polished, well rounded performance.
Musical Director Peter Smith will no doubt want to consolidate and continue to build Mitcham City Brass from where they now are on the SA banding scene.
May we speculate a move to the B Grade?
Overall it was great to see Mitcham City Brass in the ‘Three for One' concert as part of the Adelaide Fringe 07. There should be more of it.
Andrew Stone
