Reflections 2007

Gunnedah Shire Senior Band Tour and CD recording

Bruce Myers writes about the tour and CD recording of the Gunnedah Shire Senior Band and its Musical Director, Jason Katsikaris, which took place in July of this year.

Gunnedah Shire Band - July 2007

Gunnedah ‘Koala Capital of the World’ is a small town (pop.12,819) 5 hours drive north of Sydney whose chief industry is agriculture but for members of the banding world is perhaps best known as the home of the Gunnedah Shire Band.  From an outsider’s perspective Gunnedah Shire Senior Band is an ambitious and succesful contesting NSW Open A grade bass band whose efforts are directed towards competing.  It was something of a surprise then to hear that the band was choosing to do a regional tour and CD recording in July instead of competing at the New Zealand National Championships or the NSW State championships in August.  I asked the band’s conductor, Jason Katsikaris, about the senior band’s decision:

“In the 8 years that I’ve been associated with Gunnedah Shire Band, we have done nothing except contests and we needed this opportunity to be creative in other ways.  It was nice to have the pressure of contesting removed and relax in each other’s company.  This was a bonding exercise for us and it was something I think we needed to do.  It gave us an opportunity to show off other aspects of the band to the community which are not displayed on the contest platform.  Similarly, the local community is very proud of us and it was a chance for them to show us off as well.  The band received massive local press coverage in television, radio, and print media and we were very proud to represent the town of Gunnedah on tour."

“The CD will be a lasting memento of our time together and is a different type of reward to one we might have received from contesting.  As a way of reflecting on the last eight years together as a band, the CD includes music we have enjoyed playing together over that time.  It was an opportunity for us to think about where we’ve been and where we’re headed.  The whole event was such a success that we’re considering making it a bi-annual event.”

Band Personnel

Soprano: Marcus Salone
Solo Cornet: Jeff Hutcherson
Solo Cornet: Phil Dokmanovic
Solo Cornet: Ian Aston
Solo Cornet: Genevieve Smith
Repiano Cornet: Michelle Rowe
2nd Cornet: Simon Holman
2nd Cornet: Caitlin Morgan
2nd Cornet: Sammy Porter
3rd Cornet: Laurence Rowe
3rd Cornet: Courtney Jamieson
Flugel:  Dian Stewart
Solo Horn: Bruce Myers
1st Horn: Allison Gumbleton
2nd Horn: Holly Winsor
2nd Horn: Cameron Sommerlad
1st Baritone: Kristy Rowe
2nd Baritone: Katie McCormack
Euphonium: Danny Alexander
Euphonium: Lloyd Edge
1st Trombone: Robert Thompson
2nd Trombone: Leanne Pettit
Bass Trombone: Nathan Kibble
Bass Trombone: Steve Lomas
E Flat Tuba: Adam Arnold
E Flat Tuba:  Anthony Rowe
E Flat Tuba: Emily Hansen
B Flat Tuba: Jude Myers
B Flat Tuba: Phil Anderton
Percussion: Adam Dickson
Percussion: David Gauci
Percussion: James Stewart
Percussion: Marg Amos

Tour and CD Repertoire

Band music:

A Little Prayer
American Trilogy
Backdraft
Brass Machine
Canterbury Chorale
Deep Space Nine
Hymn for Diana
I’ll Walk With God
Procession to Covenant
Silver Mountain
Singing in the Rain
Sosban Fach (Little Saucepan)
Strike up the band
Tomasi’s Procession and Fanfare

Solos:

By the time I get to Phoenix, featuring Jeff Hutcherson on cornet
Dimitri, featuring Dian Stewart on flugal horn
Donegal Bay, featuring Kristy Rowe on Baritone
Fnugg, featuring on Adam Arnold E flat tuba
Little Red Bird, featuring Danny Alexander on euphonium
Masquerade, featuring Bruce Myers on tenor horn
Moon Dance, featuring Steve Lomas bass trombone
Somewhere Over the Rainbow, featuring Bruce Myers on tenor horn

With Sutherland Shire Brass

The band’s first weekend together in July was spent rehearsing at Kirrawee High School in Sydney’s South combined with a concert on Sunday with Sutherland Shire Brass at the Sutherland Entertainment centre.  Lead by Warwick Tyrrell, Sutherland Shire Brass’s concert was very entertaining and delighted their large and loyal audience.  After a brief introductory program of popular tunes, instrumental solos, and sing-a-longs, Gunnedah crept onto stage and changed places with Sutherland during The Pink Panther.  It was the first time we had ever played for a full audience in such a large venue which made the concert all the more memorable.  We performed our repertoire after which Gunnedah residents embarked on the long trip home, leaving the remaining Gunnedah members to perform the second half with Sutherland Shire Band.  Warrick Tyrrell “absolutely loved working with the band and absolutely loved working with Jason who was really focussed but extremely easy to get along with.”

Bruce Myers as one of the featured soloists on the tour and CD

Warrick Tyrrell also commented, “I enjoy people and organisations that push the boundaries and try things in a new way when something like the old way hasn’t necessarily worked for them, and this is the case with Gunnedah.”  For Gunnedah Shire Senior Band, this means trying new ways of rehearsing because the members are so geographically dispersed.  The band can’t get together every week but gets together when possible.  Jason Katsikaris: “Our time together at Gunnedah is about quality rather than quantity.  Rather than weekly rehearsals, we have fewer rehearsals with 100% attendance and 100% commitment which works for us.”

Gunnedah in concert at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre

The Guests

Gunnedah Shire Senior Band principal euphonium player Danny Alexander arrived on Sunday morning straight from New York in time for the concert.  Fortunately, Mark Howcroft from St Marys was there to cover Danny just in case he fell asleep.  Mark Howcroft: “I really enjoyed the concert and had been looking forward to working with Jason Katsikaris again for some time.  I’ve always thought a lot of Jason and I feel that a large part of the rise to fame of Gunnedah Shire Senior Band can be attributed directly to him.  The difference he made to the sound of the band within the first 30 minutes of the Saturday morning rehearsal was astonishing.” 

Other guests for the tour and CD recording included the principal cornet and bass trombone players from BTM (Bedwas Trethomas Machen) Band in Wales which Jason conducts as well as principal cornet Philip Dokmanovic from St Marys and Genevieve Smith from Waratah Brass.  It was not the first time that Philip or Genevieve had played for Gunnedah and they both enjoyed the social and musical aspects of their time with Gunnedah.

Sacrifices 

After the weekend in Sydney, the band spent a week apart in preparation for an intense week of music in Gunnedah.  Members used annual leave to take time off work.  Families separated for the week with some leaving behind newborns and pregnant wives.  University students put their social lives on hold.  A member for twelve years, university student Dian Stewart joined Gunnedah Shire Junior band at the age of seven and now plays flugal horn with the senior band.  She is studying a Bachelor of Science / Bachelor of Education degree majoring in marine biology at UNSW.  Dian Stewart:

“What I really enjoy is the satisfaction of playing with a good band and seeing everyone again.  We’re from all different places and it’s good to catch up.  We leave town to further our education and to get jobs.  We’re all a big family and when we split up we’re all really sad.  Most of us have been together through junior band and I’ve known some of the members since pre-school – a good long while.”

In Gunnedah

The Saturday night concert in Gunnedah band hall featured the junior and senior band performing for a packed audience who gave a standing ovation.  On Sunday the band travelled to Armidale (2 hours further north) for a combined concert with Armidale City Band and an enthusiastic audience.  David Brown, conductor of Armidale City Band: “It was a totally worthwhile experience and everyone that was there really enjoyed the concert.  Gunnedah played really well and are a real credit to themselves.  We’re more than happy to do it again and we’re now talking about the possibility of an annual combined concert.”

The Recording

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were spent recording the CD in the Smithurst theatre. 

In between takes...

The feelings of the band are probably best summed up by one of our B flat bass players, Phil Anderton: “Wow! It’s Wednesday night and I feel like I have done nothing in my life except play Bb Bass for a very demanding Musical Director! Congratulations to everybody for a massive effort in the "recording studio" competing with the "reversing machine" (beep..beep..beep - I have a video), and trying our best to meet Jason's high standards. I have really had a ball these last three days. My lips are like leather, but when I think back to Donegal Bay, Covenant, Dimitri and Hymn for Diana, I must admit I cannot think of a more rewarding way to spend three whole days of one's life. Thank you Jason for your Musical leadership. Thanks Jeff and Steve for traveling to the Antipodes to record at the Koala capital of the world. Thanks Jude and Holly for cutting short your European holiday for us. Thanks Fleur and Sally for looking after us so well (what a spoiled band this is!!) Thanks everyone for making it all possible. Gunnedah you are the best.  Can't wait to hear the end result.”

Workshop with the Gunnedah Shire Junior Band

Thursday was a special day when the senior and junior band combined to work on the junior band’s NSW State Championship pieces.  The faces of the juniors lit up as they sat alongside their counterparts from senior band to play through Symphonic Variations by Phillip Rutherford, A Malvern Suite by Philip Sparke, and Old Rugged Cross arranged by Simon Wood.  Jason Katsikaris workshopped the band and his magical way of producing the best from the band was awesome to watch.  As the new conductor of the Junior Band, I sat and watched the master at work before stepping up to sight-read the test piece.  The combined volume of the band was staggering and the juniors came away from the day inspired.  The band let their hair down on Thursday night with a combined junior and senior band party that marked the end of the band’s time together in Gunnedah.

Gunnedah Shire Junior Band workshop

Sandy Porter, mother of two children with Gunnedah Shire Band, shared her thoughts: “My perspective of the Senior Band Tour, recording of the CD and Development day with the Juniors is probably a little different than many others as I have one child who is a member of both the Senior and Junior Bands as well as another child who is a member of the Junior Band.  Although the week was very demanding on both my daughter and our family as a whole, with playing, travelling and organisation, I know that the experience and enjoyment my daughter received from being able to play with such an eclectic and diverse group of fantastic players, who are in themselves genuinely nice people, together with the pride of being conducted by Jason was priceless.  The knowledge that she is considered a valued member of such a great band is something she inwardly treasures, and cannot wait until she plays with them again.  My feeling is that what Sammy gained from the time and experience was well worth every minute and kilometre as it gave her something beyond the norm doing what she loves best . . . playing."
 
“The time and knowledge that the Seniors gave to the Junior Band during the development day was invaluable not only for their input but also because of the pride the Juniors experienced knowing that players of their experience and repute thought the Junior Band were worthy of their time and interest.  The day also forged some budding friendships and mentoring, and started reducing the gap that was always felt to be in existence between the two bands.  If the Development Day could become a regular event, it would probably inspire a number of the Junior players to strive further and eventually look towards joining the Senior Band to continue the flow of players, and continuance of both Bands. It is always a case of monkey see, monkey do, and it is a way of ensuring that the Senior players of the future will give the same time and experience and knowledge to the Juniors of tomorrow.”

Off to Muswellbrook

Friday was spent travelling to Muswellbrook where the Muswellbrook Shire Concert Band hosted a Friday night concert for us.  Their musical director Russell Passfield “thought it was great, of a very high standard and was most entertaining and impressive.”  The band, exhausted after the Thursday night party, went to bed early to prepare themselves for the big final concert of the tour.

...and then Warners Bay

Warners Bay Performing Arts Centre was packed on Sunday afternoon in anticipation of a fundraiser concert for Waratah Brass whose band hall had just been badly damaged by flooding.  The successful concert was recorded live in front of an enthusiastic audience who asked for two encores.  David Kimpton, the secretary for Waratah Brass: “It was a really really good fantastic concert and the audience loved it.  Having a different band performing for our regular audience was a really good thing.  The change was as good as a holiday for them and this probably increased the size of the audience at our next concert the following week!  On behalf of the band a huge thank you to the members of the Gunnedah band for their fundraising efforts and it goes to show that regardless of any animosity that may exist, we can come together in times of need and support each other in brass banding.  At a time when we were in a slump, this concert lifted our spirits and showed that there are people who were willing to lend a hand.  The $1700 proceeds from the concert have gone into our donations account to get new music and gear.  Waratah brass hopes to be there for Gunnedah in their time of need.”

Gunnedah in concert at Warners Bay

The more adventurous members of the band stayed to celebrate while others headed home. 

Adam Arnold in the recording studio

The tour and CD recording was a large success in terms of goodwill, quality music making, and the building of ties within Gunnedah Shire Band and the greater brass band community.  It was a great experience and one that will hopefully be repeated in the future.

Bruce Myers