It is the shared philosophy of Dunedin’s St Kilda Brass band members that was key to the ensemble defending its national B-grade title at the New Zealand Brass Band Championships, in Wellington at the weekend.
Band conductor Peter Adams said the band played magnificently in all three sections of the contest — like he dreamt they would.
The set test music, that all the bands had to perform, was particularly ‘‘demanding’’, he said.
‘‘It was a new New Zealand work called Images by David Woodcock and I think a lot of the competing bands approached it with a negative mindset.
‘‘The images that the piece is about are only known to the composer.
‘‘It's quite a dissonant work with a lot of clashes in it and a lot of difficult time signatures.
‘‘It's not meant to be images of lakes and mountains.’’
The piece was actually quite disturbing, he said.
‘‘I just had to do things to help the youngsters get to grips with it and then we just tried to bring out all the character in it.
‘‘It was about building confidence.’’
Their second national title in the grade comes two years after the band reached a crossroads, where its members had to decide whether to continue struggling in the A-grade, or move themselves down to the B-grade.
Band president John McAdam said they chose the latter and it had been a major step in the rejuvenation of the band.
‘‘I don't think there were any regrets about going back.
‘‘I think we all saw it as an opportunity to actually do some rebuilding.’’
Since then, it had gone from strength to strength.
The band was now filled predominantly with tertiary and secondary students, with a sprinkling of more experienced musicians, whereas previously, it was the other way around.
As for the contest results, he was delighted.
The band was relaxed and confident, they would give a good performance on stage, he said.
‘‘Clearly, the results were the icing on the cake.
‘‘It validates our investment in the youth, but having said that, they've done it themselves.
‘‘They’ve organised the whole contest as well as practising their parts and that got us there, and we won.
‘‘So it's a real celebration of that youth culture in the band and teamwork.’’
Questions were now being asked about whether the band should be moved back up to the A-grade, but Mr Adams said he and the band would prefer to stay in the B-grade for at least another year and try for ‘‘a hat trick’’ of wins in the section.
The next major project on the band’s calendar is its 125th anniversary celebrations in August, which includes a major concert featuring past and present members of the band who are now scattered all around the globe.
