The Kiwi Diaries

Steve Miles

Steve Miles reflects on his first six months in Dunedin and looks forward to the further expansion of the Southern Brass Academy.

Well…six months in the country and what a truly unique experience this has been so far.  The past six months have flown by so quickly…it only seems like a couple of days ago that I endured the horrible 24 hour flight down under on a very old Air New Zealand airplane – you remember the ones that only have one television for all to share, much to the discomfort of passengers residing in the window seats.

July 31st 2005 I arrived (eventually after some problems landing) in Dunedin airport on a bitterly cold but very sunny day.  Greeted by St. Kilda officials Peter McHenry (Band Manager) and Mike Devlin (Treasurer) we began the final leg of the journey from the airport some 20 kilometers to the centre of Dunedin.  For a big Welshman (though not so big now) that just about fitted in the airplane seat (with a little help from gravity) had a crick in his neck and was incredibly tired, not to mention hungry, I must have looked like I belonged more on the set of King Kong rather than in this quiet yet busy little city!  So…straight to the house of Principal Trombone player Ted Pheloung, little did I realise then how much time I would be spending here (particularly in the ‘wee hours'):  157 Forbury Road – the venue for many small gatherings and the resting place of many well known banding celebrities over the years whilst on their travels, the likes of Ian Porthouse and Brett Baker.  I was allowed just enough time for a quick shower and change of clothes, then I was off to meet some more of the St Kilda band.

Expecting a few of the ‘old wrinklies' that one associates with being the backbone of many brass bands, I was given a big shock when I entered the Esplanade (my new local – with a view over the Pacific Ocean) and found about 20 people (young and old) waiting to greet me.  Even with severe jet-lag my mind was sharp enough to work out that 20 people is almost an entire band.  What a welcome!!! 

It's a great Kiwi belief that the only way to beat jet-lag is to stay up until such time that you've drunk enough alcohol for your body not to know what time of day it is, what day of the week it is and for that matter where the hell you are and what your doing!  So the next 12 hours were spent with the die-hard members of the band making big plans (not that we remembered any of them) about the bands future during which time I had accepted numerous engagements both playing and adjudicating (which I should have made note of at the time!).

Monday 1st August 2005

My first meeting with the Southern Brass Academy board of trustees.  These are the guys (and girl) that were responsible for the inception of the Academy and the driving force behind an international search to recruit a Director (me).  Around the table were accountants, managing directors, retired school principals and inspectors, the Orchestral Manager of the Southern Sinfonia and a lecturer in music from the University of Otago.  More importantly this was a group of people that represented all the major musical groups (that involve brass players) in the City bringing with them the experiences and attributes that their past or present employment has equipped them with.  What a great team of people to be the driving force behind such an organisation.  It was obvious right from this first meeting that these people wanted to see a return to the halcyon days of hundreds of bandsman (and brass players) active in and around Dunedin City, an attitude that I found both infectious and inspiring.  How wrong I was thinking that I would be allowed a little time to settle in on my arrival and days after this first meeting I began a series of school workshops to recruit young brass players. 

The Workshops

The response to my workshops from pupils was fantastic!  I enjoyed every second of this and certainly eased any feelings of doubt I had on whether or not this was a good change of career.  In every school that I visited, when I asked who wanted to play a brass instrument at the end of the session almost every hand in the room went up (even some of the staff!)  What shocked me most was the behavior and discipline of the pupils, not a moment passed where I was not the centre of attention and had less than 100% of the pupils' attention.  During the first workshop a child in the middle of the room stood up with a look of intent in his eyes that prompted in me a response to duck (being accustomed to the delightful children of inner city Manchester).  Imagine my delight when a chair was not thrown in my direction, rather a very polite voice thanking me ‘for sharing my wonderful music.'  This was obviously the ‘done thing' as at every school a pupil stood up at the end of the session and thanked me, each in their own words.  WOW!!! 

Dunedin masterclass

It was not until the third day of Workshops that I experienced a more traditional welcome…well… sort of. 

Upon arrival at an intermediate school (equivalent to UK year 7 & 8 pupils) south of the city, I was quickly briefed by the school principal on the introduction procedure for the morning but no amount of explaining could have prepared me for what I was about to witness!  The entire school stood in front of me in the Assembly Hall and the signal was given for one pupil to start a backing CD for the National Anthem.  Not that unusual I thought – I used to have to sing the Welsh National Anthem in assemblies during my early school years.  So the Anthem was sung in Maori with great enthusiasm from both pupils and staff before a very fierce rendition of the Haka!!!  I've always thought that teams facing the All Blacks must be given quite a fright when witnessing this traditional dance and after standing in front of a couple of hundred school kids doing it I can only confirm that it must be terrifying!!!  This was followed by another verse of the Anthem – this time though in English and I felt a real sense of ‘Now Follow That you Pom' from all the proud and almost gloating staff!  What a morning!!!

The 1st Rehearsal (I sat and listened as the band was preparing for a contest)

My first impression of St Kilda band (from a playing point of view – they had already proved their social prowess) was quite alarming to say the least.  Here was a band with so much potential and such a keen work ethic (though very slow) that were not getting the very basics right.  Simple playing in time together and listening to one another was a real problem despite the knowledgeable musical leadership of the band's professional conductor, Peter Adams.  At times I thought it was the jet-lag playing tricks on me and that I was hearing things but no…there was certainly much work to be done!

The Provincial build up

The Saints were in the pre-contest build up for the Otago and Southland Provincial Contest held in Invercargill when I arrived.  They had chosen ‘Paganini Variations' as their own choice work and ‘I'll Walk with God' as the sacred item.  I had chosen not to participate in the contest with the band for a number of reasons but mostly because I wanted to get ‘an outsiders' view on their preparation and end product...a valuable experience.  After a couple of lunch meetings with Peter Adams (who knows where Dunedin's finest restaurants are!) we came up with a plan of attack for the following couple of weeks.  I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the way the band responded to the pressure of the intensive rehearsals that followed and it was only a couple of days of ‘double teaming' from myself and Peter that sparked the band into action.  I was very pleased with the contest performances of the chosen works and the band acquitted themselves very well.  There were however some uneasy moments and doors left open hence the band taking second place rather than being the winners of the contest.  A valuable learning experience however both for the band and its new Musical Director.

Though I had decided not to play at the contest with the band, I did however perform at the entertainment contest the following day and had great fun working with the band on their programme.  I had picked quite a varied programme for this performance, though it did have quite a strong British flavor and a lot of Peter Graham (who the band thinks I'm on commission from!).  We opened with Peter Grahams' ‘Summon the Dragon' with Cornets and Trombones standing around the back of the band facing down the auditorium.  This was followed by yours truly playing 'Brillante' and after a quick hike up the backstage stairs to the ‘Gods' to play the Alphorn - Howard Snell's ‘The Old Chalet.'  When I arrived in New Zealand there was a lot of doubt from the band as to the quality of this piece (some players only have one note to play all the way through) but they were very gracious after the performance which was very highly regarded by the events adjudicator, Dwayne Bloomfield.  To finish off the band played 'Gaelforce' (at a slightly faster than comfortable pace) and pulled off some fine choreography (which took an age to prepare!) that added to a very exciting and rewarding performance.

Music in Dunedin

Dunedin has really impressed me since my arrival and some of the supposed amateur musical organisations around the city really are quite impressive.  My first experience of this was Dunedin Operatics' production of ‘Cabaret.'  Having a sister who has always been heavily involved in theatre I was familiar with this show and it did not fail to impress.  Usually with such organisations one expects a few weaker moments, whether it may be a singer not quite as strong as the other principals, poor scenery or shoddy dancing.  This show had none of these weaknesses and I came away thoroughly entertained and not begrudging the $45.00 admission cost.  Ironically later that week I was unfortunate enough to attend a professional organisation's concert which even the incredible skills of the virtuoso soloist couldn't keep me present past the interval.  Quite an eye opener for me and easy to see why the Southern Brass Academy were looking for outside help to combat player shortages.

Cathedral Brass

The members of the St Kilda band were given very little recovery time after the Provincial Contest and were immediately back into rehearsal for my first conducting engagement with the band-Cathedral Brass.  My announcement of the concert programme was greeted with doubt and humor by some of the players who did not believe it possible to prepare such a concert in only four or five weeks.  These doubters, who firmly believed that I would change my mind and take ‘Journey into Freedom' and Saint Saens ‘Finale for the Organ Symphony' off the programme, were given quite a shock when the advertising for the concert was released.  The posters and flyers clearly stated the major works of the evening's entertainment and there was no turning back.

My first couple of weeks as the bands Musical Director were quite challenging (as any new job is) and it took a little time for the band to get used to me and my way of getting things done.  The biggest shock for the band was the speed at which I expected them to work.  Working on the theory of ‘if you give someone time to sleep…they will sleep'…I found this the most successful way to get the best from my players and though things were a bit shaky to start, we were very quickly all singing from the same hymn sheet.  The effort that each player put in from the youngest (17) to the oldest (79) was quite incredible and this was realized in a superb concert given to a capacity audience at Knox Church (see 4barsrest article http://www.4barsrest.com/reviews/concerts/con234.asp)

Iolanthe

St Kilda does Iolanthe

During the rehearsal period for ‘Cathedral Brass,' a smaller group of players from the band were involved in the ‘Gilbert and Sullivan' societies' production of Iolanthe.  The 10tet were short of a trombone player and as I still did not know many people in Dunedin I was persuaded that it would be a good way for me to meet some new people.  Oh Dear!!!  Upon agreeing to get involved in this project, I was not informed that I would have to dress up in a military marching uniform with a full bearskin helmet and march out on to the stage over a very steep (and seemingly pointless) bridge.  Nightmare!!!  The production was however very successful and sell out audiences at the six performances loved the band's contribution.  I spent each performance ducking and dodging cameras and sneaking off to the bathroom whenever the official photographs were being taken only to find that it has been recorded and is now available on DVD.  GREAT!!!

Steve Miles does Iolanthe!

Theatre Restaurant

Through the many social occasions and quiet nights at the Esplanade I found myself slowly getting involved with the Dunedin Operatic.  One crazy night in October at 157 Forbury Road after one or two rather potent Margaritas, I agreed to do one arrangement for the Operatic's Theatre Restaurant ‘Life as We Know it.'  Funnily enough this one arrangement became four, which soon became six and then ten and so on…  This was a first for me and although I had done plenty of arranging in the past, never something like this.  Though it took a little while to write the parts I was only adding brass from piano scores to some of the latest of Broadway Musicals.  Great Fun!!!  I had not before been exposed to the likes of ‘The Jerry Springer Show,' ‘The Producers,' ‘Bat Boy' and ‘UrineTown.'  I loved every minute of this and after watching the best looking member of the cast (who was absolutely gorgeous!!!) singing ‘An Old Fashioned Lesbian Love Story,' I couldn't stay away.  Yet another thoroughly enjoyable musical experience in Dunedin.

First expansion of the Southern Brass Academy

2006 is clearly an important year for the Southern Brass Academy and the next couple of months will determine the success of the organisation.  During the first two weeks of Term One I decided to conduct some more workshops to increase the number of schools involved in the Academy's ‘In School Brass' program.  This has been very exciting and successful and this part of the Academy's work now boasts 49 pupils with another ten or so likely to start in the next few weeks.  For me this has been very reassuring and a good number of these pupils are already showing that they have great potential.  Combined with regular adult materclasses and a ‘University' program, 2006 is going to be an incredibly busy time for the Southen Brass Academy.

Well then…so far this move for me has been both enjoyable and exciting.  I was initially quite worried that after six months I may be missing playing in ‘Top Flight' bands and though I do miss this a little, I certainly have not had time to be bored.  Life is good! BBQ's and water skiing on the numerous beautiful lakes here never seems to get boring.  Anyone thinking of moving to New Zealand or even coming out to work for a couple of years – I thoroughly recommend it.  More seriously though, the Southern Brass Academy is shaping up to being a very successful venture and I have also been hugely impressed by the commitment and effort shown by the St Kilda band. 

Steve's skiing skills

This year I will be looking forward to several key events; another expansion in the Southern Brass Academy, a subscription series of concerts with the St Kilda band, Performances at the Australian and New Zealand National contests and preparing the orchestra for Dunedin Operatic's production of ‘Beauty and the Beast.'  I look forward to reporting on these later in the year.

Steve Miles