New Zealand National Youth Brass Band

2006

Aimee Beaumont, percussionist with the New Zealand National Youth Band, tells of her experience on this year's summer course and tour.

New Zealand National Youth Brass Band 2006

My experience with the 2006 National Youth Band was none other than the best ten days of my life. As my second year as a percussionist in the band, I felt this year's trip beat last year's by far!

Percussion Section (Aimee on left)

From Day One, the excitement kicked in upon arriving at our accommodation, finally being reunited with all my friends again from the '05 band who I missed so much. During our time in Wellington, six hour (and more) rehearsals a day took a while to get used to again. Fatigue and exhaustion began to set in after the first few days after one too many late nights, but was quickly resolved during the lead up towards our first performance. On Day Three, our section rehearsal with percussion tutor Bruce McKinnon proved to be a huge benefit to our section. Bruce's words of advice were taken in seriously as he helped us out in difficult passages and sculpted our team into a much tighter sounding unit.

Solo Cornets

Our first concert at ‘Expressions' in Upper Hutt was fantastic! The whole band performed to a very high standard, and the huge positive feedback from audience members (numbers much improved from last year!) proved the concert was a huge success. The following day we spent our time in Upper Hutt again, doing the final touch-ups to our CD, which was an awesome first-time experience for me. The long hours spent working on parts of songs certainly challenged my playing and concentration, but no doubt the final product will be an absolutely fantastic CD. A special thanks must go out to Keith Warren for the kind gift he gave to me of his very precious pair of timpani mallets (which I was originally only borrowing for recording purposes) which were a special gift given to him by NZSO timpanist, Larry Reese.

Horns and Basses

The South Island Tour part of the trip was a lot of fun. Our performance in Blenheim was no doubt the biggest highlight of the trip for me. Performing to a very large audience in my hometown left me with such a buzz, and many congratulations' by Marlborough District Brass Band members and my family. Our performance in Nelson the following day was another great concert. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of this concert was slightly diminished due to the lack of space for all our percussion gear, and the acoustics of the venue limiting our section to play no louder than mf! However, we performed very well and the audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. Our final concert in Greymouth was a great finish to what had been a long ten days of hard, but enjoyable work. Apart from a few too many empty seats in the crowd, we still gave the audience a great show.

Back row cornets.

At our Prize Giving that same night, many memorable speeches and thankyou's were shared, and the trophies were awarded deservingly. Hamish Jellyman and myself were very proud to be the 2006 recipients of the ‘Most Improved Player' trophy. Our last night spent together was a lot of fun and a great wind up to yet another very successful Youth Band trip. Saying my goodbyes would have been one of the hardest parts of the trip for me. In the Youth Band, we not only make life-long friends, but we also make a whole new family who we remain a part of forever, and saying goodbye to everybody is not easy. For many people in the band, the 2006 trip will be their last ever for them, but they will certainly never ever be forgotten.

Euphoniums and Baritones.

Playing under the baton of Ken Young again was a huge privilege. Ken is by far one of the most amazing conductors I have ever played for, and as this year was his last year conducting the Youth Band, he will be sorely missed. Ken had this year crafted such an amazing band, which performed to a very professional level, which I am so proud to have been a part of.

Kenneth Young

Working under Dayle Jellyman as our section leader was fantastic. Dayle is an extremely talented musician and was very helpful in leading me and Ben in the right direction, always giving us tips and advice to help us improve our playing.

A huge thanks must go to the management team, Mike Sander and Marie Rockell, for organising such an awesome and very successful trip which I thoroughly enjoyed!

Also thanks to Evan Sayer (a.k.a Colonel Sanders) for being the driver of the percussion truck, carefully transporting our gear from venue to venue. And another thanks to Kevin Jarrett, for being such an amazing mentor to the band. It is easy to see why this man is admired by many brass musicians all over the country.

Thanks must also go to our guest soloist, John Lewis, whose playing blew me away after first hearing him at our rehearsal. The band is very lucky to have had such a wonderfully talented musician play for them.

And finally, thanks to everyone else who helped contribute to the '06 Youth Band trip!

Trombones.

Having only been playing percussion for three years, being accepted into this top-class group of young musicians for two years in a row now is such a huge privilege and an honour. During my short time of playing, I have been so lucky to have made such an awesome bunch of friends who will remain my friends forever, and to have played music along side some of the best young musicians in the country. All in all, the 2006 Youth Band trip was certainly a trip I will never forget. Bring on 2006 National Contest!!!!

Aimee Beaumont – Percussionist 2006 NYBB
Marlborough District Brass Band