The organisers of the Australian National Band Championships have announced the test-pieces to be used at the event in Melbourne next year.

Hosted over the Easter weekend between the 18th and 21st April 2025, the competitions will be held for both brass and concert bands as well as the traditional series of individual categories.

50 works have been selected for the competitions, half by female composers and 58% by Australian writers.

Open Premier Grade

As previously reported on 4BR, a new Open Premier Grade is being trialled in addition to the established A to D Grade events and Junior sections.

The new elite level competition will see bands perform Paul McGhee's 'King Kong on Rue Igor Stravinsky' written for Brass Band Burgermusik Luzern and premiered at the 2018 Swiss National Championships. The band also performed it at the 2019 European Championships.

Frank Zappa not Fay Wray

It is not a homage to the famous 1933 RKO film featuring the screaming Fay Wray, but a work of febrile imagination inspired by the real-life events that took place in 1971 at the Montreux Casino in the middle of a performance of 'King Kong' by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.

The venue caught fire, resulting in a mass evacuation of over 2500 concert goers — the spectacle later resulting in another rock group 'Deep Purple' go on to pen their own homage to the night with their iconic song, 'Smoke on the Water'.

There are more familiar works in the other senior sections with compositions from Peter Graham, Pimpanit Karoonyavanich, Jan de Haan and James Curnow. The Junior grades will play works by Kerry Thomas, Benjamin Tubb-Hearne and Adrian Hallam.

It is not a homage to the famous 1933 RKO film but of febrile imagination inspired by the real-life events that took place in 1971 at the Montreux Casino in the middle of a performance of 'King Kong' by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention4BR

2025 Test Pieces:

Open Premier Grade: King Kong on Rue Igor Stravinsky (Paul McGhee)
Open A Grade: Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Peter Graham)
Open B Grade: A Journey to the Bermuda Triangle (Pimpanit Karoonyavanich)
Open C Grade: Inspiration (Jan de Haan)
Open D Grade: Legend in Brass (James Curnow)

Junior A Grade: A Summer Rhapsody (Kerry Thomas)
Junior B Grade: A Bournemouth Suite (Benjamin Tubb-Hearne)
Junior C Grade: Haunted (Adrian Hallam)