2007 New South Wales Brass Band Championships

Retrospective: A Grade

Saturday 25 August
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre
Adjudicator: Doug Trottman OAM

St Marys thrilled with their first win at the States in many years

When 4BRDU headed down to Sydney to cover this year's championships, we couldn't help but feel a keen sense of anticipation for the weekend ahead.

The news that David King was in town (and quite busy helping some of the competing bands with their contest preparation) had everyone in a bit of a spin, with plenty of betting and badgering between bands during the lead up to the on-stage proceedings.

We were expecting a tough fight to the finish in A grade, and with all the competing bands having their fair share of well-documented strengths and weaknesses, across the board consistency was looking like the most important ingredient for success. As usual, the champion band of NSW would be decided by way of aggregate points after completion of the Sacred, Test and Own Choice sections.

As for the test music, we have to admit leaving the hall a little confused on Saturday night. In the weeks before the contest 4BRDU had been inundated with emails expressing their disapproval of Michael Forsyth's composition, Alea Iacta Est.  One critic's opinion was, "It is poorly constructed, naively scored and the marked tempos are physically impossible to play in the later sections of the work. Add to this the fact that it has limited melodic content and the most basic harmonic structure imaginable and you can probably tell that I'm not a big fan!"

Whilst we wholeheartedly agree on the tempo issue, we couldn't bring ourselves to criticize the music so broadly. Sure, it wasn't as fluent as Heaton or Howarth, nor was it packed full of Sparkesque effect and nuance, but we felt it was a genuine piece of writing from a composer with something refreshingly different to offer the Australian band movement. Indeed, over the weekend itself we found it quite hard to find someone who by that stage wasn't in some way complimentary of the piece. Personally we thoroughly enjoyed it, and although it won't be making our all-time favorites list, there were moments of real brilliance in Mr. Forsyth's work. It certainly tested all the bands to the full, with plenty of genuine music in the score for the MD's to experiment with.

Winning MD, Jason Katsikaris; the Composer of the Test, Michael Forsyth; and the adjudicator, Doug Trottman OAM

Although we admit to being fatigued, starved and perhaps a little caffeine-frenzied (The day had already seen us take in a red-eye flight, a nightmarish drive through Sydney (yes..Amanda was driving!), nine performances from three C grade bands and several lattes along the way) we nonetheless found ourselves sitting up alert and ready to report when Waratah took to the stage under the baton of Ken MacDonald.

Waratah Brass with Ken McDonald as guest MD

They began with a beautiful rendition of Bosanko's His Provision, well led by the MD, and featuring some beautiful moments from Matthew Van Emmerik on euphonium with some fine touches added by Soprano Jaime Brown who sang like a bird all day.

Waratah's singing bird.......Jaime Brown

Their test was a good marker, but never really reached the heights we were hoping for. Basic issues like intonation, sound quality and ensemble balance often did detract, and although we knew we were listening to a fine band under a gifted conductor, it was disappointing to see some of the basics go out the window when the music became a little more complex. We did enjoy it though, put them down for 2nd, and reacted with more than a little surprise to see them come away with the win in this section.

They opted to revisit Music of the Spheres as their own choice selection, a decision which gave rise to great anticipation amongst all those in the audience who remembered their thrilling account of Sparke's magnum opus which secured them second place at the 2005 Australian National Championships in Adelaide. Unfortunately for them, it didn't quite bring the house down this time, although the standard of playing was at times breathtaking, and did do more than enough to ensure they remained well and truly in contention for the crown.

Willoughby and Andy Snell took to the stage next as we bunkered down in preparation for a real belter of a performance from perhaps the hardest-hitting band in the country. From our point of view their sacred item was far too stagnant to make a real impression. Whilst the technical facility of the musicians was never in doubt, and the MD at times drew an incredible richness of sound, it was the sustenance (or lack thereof) of that sound which did disappoint.

Willoughby Band

Their test was at times riveting to listen to, but again, the inconsistencies hurt. Too often we heard some magical moments shattered by playing which almost sounded as if it came from a different band altogether. In the own choice things ran much the same, although Montage certainly suited this band well. The louder bits really went off, but it was the quieter, slower passages which exposed the weaknesses in the ensemble. We had them down for third across the board, and they came away better off two out of three times.

Willoughby's star Euph - Jeff Ma

City of Holroyd were next up and although we saw some promise in parts, the band seemed to struggle to come to terms with the test music. The intonation bug seemed to bight them hard and we noticed the MD struggle alot to get the band to respond to the dynamic challenges in the last movement. Their hymn had some lovely moments, but it was perhaps that same lack of sustain we noted in Willoughby's performance that hurt them as well. They made a fantastic impression straight up in the own choice section, but got let down by a lack of dedication to the performance as time went on.

City of Holroyd

At the end of the day it's never enjoyable coming last, but we hope the band learns just how much more capable a group of musicians they are.

City of Holroyd's Horn Section

The newly promoted Warringah Concert Brass took to the stage perhaps the most enthusiastic looking band of the day. They had intent and drive in their performance right from the word go, but the basics did let them down in places.

Warringah Concert Brass

Thom Humphries delivered some beautiful playing in their rendition of The Day Thou Gavest, and the band backed up well. In the test we noticed a more relaxed approach in the opening which allowed us to hear detail which had previously gone unnoticed. They made some interesting music out of the second movement, but we did lose some detail in the third.

Thom Humphries leads Warringah's Eupho section

Their performance of Devil and the Deep Blue Sea turned out to be quite enjoyable, with some stellar work from Euph and Flugel adding to what truly was a brave performance of a very difficult work. Not all the traps were overcome, and we felt that 4th place was a fair representation of their performances, although no one can deny this is a band growing more determined to climb the ladder with every contest that passes.

St. Mary's took to the stage as favorites to come away with the crown, and from the word go didn't disappoint. Guest MD Jason Katsikaris led with an energy not matched by any other conductor on the day, and the band responded in turn with a heart-warming rendition of Goff Richard's arrangement of Crimond.

One of many dynamic moves of the day!

Their rendition of Alea Iacta Est silenced many critics, perhaps finally illustrating the work's full potential. It was immediately obvious just how much work Katsikaris had put into the score, and the level of detail was often astounding. In particular their last movement had us jumping out of our seats in places; there really was some brilliant playing on show, particularly from their principal cornet player, Phil Dokmanovic.

St Marys Band Club

They were on fire again with Journey to the Centre of the Earth, although fatigue did start to make a showing towards the end of their performance here. The effects all came off a treat, and the Bass duet was a real highlight, even if at times the dynamics did go a bit OTT. The Bass Trombone ripped it up like a chainsaw on the run to the end, and the last note really did stir up the crowd.

...the crowd - not looking too stirred up as they await the results

It was no surprise then to see the band come away with the win, although our team was split down the middle between them and Waratah on the Own Choice.

At the end of the day then everything fell into place much as we had predicted, although St. Mary's second placing in the test really did have us scratching our heads. Other than that our only real complaint was the often ridiculous amount of time that some bands took to reset the stage before their performances.

Some were well prepared for the long sessions

In one instance the audience was left waiting for around 10 minutes between bands. Surely the adjudicator can't have been thrilled about the sheer amount of waiting being done over the course of his 6 odd hours behind the curtain.

The day was just too much for some....

All in all though for us the A grade section provided a snapshot into what lies ahead for Banding in New South Wales. We found Holroyd in need of a confidence boost, Willoughby with the ingredients to be brilliant, but held back by a few niggling issues, Warringah a newcomer with bucketloads of potential, Waratah - a champion band on the rebuild after a period of rough luck, and St. Mary's perhaps finally realising they have what it takes to be a truly formidable contest outfit.

Ben Crocker
Photos: Amanda Casagrande