Hitting the right notes for nationals
The Marlborough District Brass Band has been hard at work preparing for the 2025 New Zealand Nationals and are fundraising with their ‘Sounds’ concert. Photo: Supplied.
Local music fans are about to be given a glimpse into the region’s champion brass band and their build-up to the 2025 national competition.
The Marlborough District Brass Band’s national competition preparations will flow through the ASB Theatre on Sunday, June 22 when they play their “Sounds” pre-contest concert.
With the namesake piece by John Golland set for all B-grade bands ahead of the national competition in Christchurch from July 2-6, executive officer Brian Nicholas says the 2024 victory at Australia’s national championships are behind them now in the pursuit of band superiority. “’Sounds’ is a demanding piece of its own accord relying on certain sections with cornets, horns and euphoniums heavily relied upon throughout, and the field in B-grade for the New Zealand nationals is just as tough, if not tougher, than our Australian win last year”, says Brian.
“Many of our soloists have seen recent success at the regional competition, so there’s some top-class musicians putting their best foot forward.
“We’ll be playing our full competition set on the night, but our chosen pieces can’t be revealed ahead of time to ensure the blind judging brass band competitions rely on is fair.”
And while the band is keen to show they’re more than a one-hit-wonder in the world of competitive brass bands, they’re having to cover increased costs after having weather ruin a key funding source.
“We’d usually raise funds helping with parking at the Classic Fighters Airshow ... sending the whole band to compete is around $20,000 with Christchurch being the cheapest and easiest, so all support is welcomed,” he added.