2006 NSW State Championships

Junior Grades Retrospective

For us, this section was one of the highlights of the weekend. Starting at the early time (early for a Sunday, at least!) of 8.30am, it was pleasing to see a crowd of approximately 200 people in the auditorium to applaud the juniors onto the stage.

Junior A Grade
Test:  A Celtic Suite (Philip Sparke)

Gunnedah Shire - winners of the Junior A Grade

Gunnedah Shire, conducted by Danny Alexander, were simply a class act, and the points indicated this.  Playing Reflections in Nature (Robert Redhead) as their sacred item, dynamics, phrasing and balance were very good.  At all times, the band's sound remained warm and round.  There were some insecurities in the exposed sections of the test piece and the occasional tentative entry disrupted the flow of the ‘linking' passages, but technically, the piece was well handled.  For its Own Choice, the band played Purcell Variations by Kenneth Downie.  During this performance, there were times when the band showed a maturity of sound and approach way beyond their apparent years.

City of Wollongong Junior Band

Kevin Jarrett made no apologies for the gap of 12 points in the Own Choice between first placed Gunnedah and second placed band City of Wollongong Junior Band.   Under the direction of Tara Grimm, the City of Wollongong Junior Band gave credible performances in all of its pieces.  Intonation issues were prevalent but the band was very rhythmical and well controlled.  The bass section in this band was superb (especially the Bb Bass), along with the Euphonium .  We must also make a special mention of the brave effort from the baritone player.  Playing Philip Sparke's Triptych, Wollongong had some insecure moments but played with great style.  There are many very young players in this band who are obviously receiving high quality basic training. 

Willoughby City Juniors

Willoughby City (Andrew Hulme) was a close third overall and certainly similar in standard to Wollongong.  Unfortunately the choice of Connotations (Edward Gregson) was heavily penalized.  The band didn't quite have the ability or control to take command of this piece, with much detail missing, rushing, and tempo inconsistencies.  The band chose Abide with Me (Wilby) as its sacred item.  Early intonation issues were a problem but the band did settle.  The percussion section were very busy moving things which unfortunately had noise associated with it!  But again – this was a very young bunch of kids who did, overall, a great job in getting on to the stage!

Junior B Grade
St Mary's Band Club (Bob Pearce)
Sacred item: David of the White Rock (Philip Sparke)
Test:  Scenes from a Comedy (Michael Hopkinson)
Own Choice: Selection of Themes from Symphony No.5 (arr. Denis Wright)

St Marys Band Club

Only one entrant in this section but what a strong entrant it was.  Even though the player balance was a little warped with 11 cornets, 1 flugel, 3 horns, 1 bari, 1 euph, 3 troms, 1 tuba and 4 percussion, the overall balance of sound at times was fine.  Well done Mr Tuba!  The band showed great use of dynamics and played with good rhythmical control, thanks to some fine direction from Bob Pearce.  They had quite a large sound for such a small band – players have obviously been taught well.  The Own Choice was tidy and technical aspects were well controlled.  Fatigue became quite noticeable towards the end – it was a long program and challenging work for such a young group.  Bravo!

Junior C Grade
Sacred:  Lloyd (Cuthbert Howard arr. Alan Fernie)
Own Choice:  Indian Summer (Eric Ball)
Concert Item: Mary Poppins Selection (Sherman arr. Denis Wright)

Warringah Youth

Again – only one entrant in this section, Warringah Youth.  Conducted by John Saunders, if this band is an example of our future, we are in fine hands.  This band would have held its own in D Grade.  Fortunately, there were more than 300 people in the auditorium to listening to these kids and acknowledge their efforts.  Thankfully, the adjudicator encouraged the players to aim for more accuracy and do a little more home practice!  Such wise words for all of us!

John Saunders with some of the 'kids'

Although John made comment to the audience at the presentation that he hoped the association might be able to do more to encourage an increase in the number entrants in the junior band section, we can see that the youth movement in NSW is, currently, very healthy.  Credit must be given to those teachers who are contributing so much to the brass band movement through their work with youth.  People who immediately spring to mind include Laurie Rowe, Tara Grimm, Ron Grice, Bob Pearce, Don Callaghan,....there are others for sure.