168 years of service (Dec 2007)

A number of members of ‘The Trusts’ Waitakere Brass were awarded long service awards at the band’s annual awards dinner in November.

Brass Bands Association New Zealand representatives Jamie Ford and Ian Levien spoke and presented awards to Stuart Ritchie, Lisa Rogers, Sergio Marshall, Craig McKee, and Ian Billington for long service to the Brass Band Association.

Stuart Ritchie

Stuart Ritchie received an award for 27 years of service. Stuart joined the New Lynn Citizens band back in 1980 and for 27 years he has remained loyal to The ‘Trusts’ Waitakere Brass.

He won the Junior Tenor Trombone title in 1989, and he was the Principal trombone in the 1990 and 1991 National Youth Bands of NZ. Stuart was made a life member of the band in 2005.

Lisa Rogers

Lisa Rogers received an award for 28 years of service. Lisa joined the Matamata band in 1980 and then moved to the Hamilton band in 1985 where she played for the next 17 years.

In 2002, Lisa joined Waitakere Brass. Lisa is one of NZ’s top flugel players having gained a placing in the Open Flugel contest many times, and this year Lisa took out the Champion Soloist title at the Auckland Bands Association contest.

Sergio Marshall

Sergio Marshall received an award for 28 years of service. Sergio started his brass band career in 1975 with the Cambridge Municipal Band. In 1982, Sergio took a break from banding but couldn’t stay away for ever and he returned to Cambridge Municipal in 1988.

1992 saw Sergio make the move to Hamilton band where he spent the next ten years playing before joining Waitakere Brass in 2002. Sergio has been a member of the National Band of NZ since 2003.

Craig McKee

Craig McKee received an award for 30 years of service. Craig started playing cornet in the New Lynn Citizens band in 1975. In 1984, he joined the NZ Army Band where he also used his keyboard skills as well as some time on soprano. After leaving the Army band, he joined the Woolston Workingmens Club band.

Craig returned to Auckland and Waitakere Brass in 1992, however 1993 saw Craig move to Kerikeri where he played for the Whangarei band. He then took some time off before returning to banding in 1999 with Auckland City Brass. 2002 saw him re-join Waitakere Brass. Craig was a member of the 1983 National Youth Band.

Ian Billington

Ian Billington received an award for an amazing 55 years of service to Brass Bands. Ian started playing in the Hawera Municipal band in 1953. He moved to Wellington in 1961 and, with a brief interlude of two years in Dannevirke, was principal cornet for Onslow Brass for 37 years.

Ian joined Waitakere band in 2000 and he has been a loyal member ever since. Ian’s achievements over the past 55 years include being a member of 6 National Bands of NZ, including the National Band that won the World Championships at Kerkrade, Holland under Elgar Clayton. Ian is a true bandsman and has assisted numerous bands throughout NZ in local and national championships.

The Trusts Waitakere Brass are fortunate to have players of such calibre and dedication as members of the band, and congratulate Stuart, Lisa, Sergio, Craig and Ian on their achievements.

Waitakere Jazz it Up (Nov 2007)

Saturday the 24 November saw ‘The Trusts’ Waitakere Brass take to the stage for their annual ‘Jazz Mania’ concert.

The evening was as popular as ever, with the audience enjoying a range of jazz music as they wined and dined the night away.

As well as band features, the audience were treated to several soloist items, displaying the depth of talent within the band.

Principal Cornet Leon Renilson gave a rendition of the jazz standard ‘Georgia On My Mind’, while Australasian Soprano Champion Fendall Hill got toes tapping with ‘Feeling Good’.

Flugelhorn player Lisa Rogers showed her class in ‘The Folks Who Live On The Hill’, from the 1937 film ‘High, Wide and Handsome’, and the band’s stalwart Principal Trombone player Stu Ritchie captured the audience with ‘Memories’.

Another highlight of the evening was a choreographed Euphonium duet, featuring Bari Thomas and Sean Whyte. The players took the title, ‘Another Fine Mess’, to heart as they played and danced their way through the Laurel and Hardy classic.

Credit must also go to compere Mark Haines, who kept the audience laughing throughout the concert, and the Massey High School Jazz Band for their top quality half time entertainment.

An enjoyable evening was had by audience and band alike.

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Kumeu Bands with The Trusts Waitakere Brass (Oct 2007)

Sunday 29 October saw a feast of brass for West Auckland when the Trusts Waitakere Brass combined with Kumeu and Kumeu Auxillary Band's to bring the appreciative audience a 3 hour concert.

The event started with the Kumeu Band conducted by Brian Miller and boosted by some of the original New Lynn Band players, and compered by Jeff Tribe. The band put on a varied programme including some beautiful playing in Spartacus and a special tribute performance of When a Child is Born, to the more upbeat numbers Hit the Road Jack and Love is in the Air.

Then followed the Kumeu Auxilliary Band conducted by Claire Bymolt. This band is an inspiration and shows what can be achieved through the dedication of people like Claire and Sean Whyte who have worked so hard to build this band and work with the children and parents. Noteable also were the the cornet playing of principal cornet Davin Coutanche and the compereing skills of the young Chris Haines another highlight was the band's enthusiastic performance of Champion Challenge, a piece commissioned by the band for the 2007 Nationals and written by 'The Trusts' Waitakere Brass' Musical Director, Steven Booth.

The second half consisted of a short, entertaining program by the Waitakare Band conducted by Steven Booth, featuring principal cornet Leon Renilson (on cornet and swanny whistle!), and former Kumeu players Claire Bymolt and Sean Whyte on horn and euphonium respectively playing the duet All I Ask Of You .

The concert concluded with the inevitable 'chaos' of trying to get all three bands together on stage to perform three pieces, one under each musical director. The massed bands gave an energetic perfomance and it was great to see old and young, experienced and inexperienced playing alongside each other and having so much fun. Ages ranged from 8 to 90!

In addition to the music there were a couple of particularly noteable elements to this concert: firstly the enjoyment and fun displayed by all the performers, and secondly the cameradery between the bands and players, something these bands are working hard to build and maintain.

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Aucklands Most Entertaining Band (Sept 2007)

The Trusts Waitakere Band continued it’s impressive run of form over the weekend, regaining the ABA Entertainment Title.

With a slick, entertaining program, played with musicality and precision the band impressed the adjudicator to take the title for the 3rd time in 4 years.

The band made an immediate impact with Fest Musik Der Stadt Wien with cornets and trombones standing around the rest of the band. They followed this with the cornet solo Miss Blue Bonnet played impeccably by their new principal cornet Leon Renilson.

Leon played with style and poise, and without music, to take the solo prize, and show why he is still among the best cornet players in the world.

Then came the ‘fun’ piece – a witty arrangement of Gee Officer Krupke by Simon Kerwin allowed the band to showcase the audience-pleasing, fun side of the band which is always evident in it’s concerts.

The hymn setting Nicea came next, played with the sensitivity and musicality the band, and their Musical Director Steven Booth are becoming renowned for, followed by the finale, Windows of the World, showcasing the band’s percussion section Brent Stewart and Stacey Perry.

The day was a double success for horn player Claire Bymolt who, not only stood in for solo horn Sergio Marshall (who was on National Band duty) but also conducted the winning Auxiliary Band, Kumeu.

The Trusts Waitakere Brass now holds all the ABA titles, Traditional Contest, Entertainment Contest, Soloist, Conductors Cup and all the major solo titles.

It is however still looking for a cornet player and a Bb Bass to complete the band’s line-up so anyone wanting to join a fun, winning band with plenty of things in the pipeline please contact musical director Steven Booth at scjb@sb-music.co.nz, or the band via the website www.waitakerebrass.com.

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Waitakere Featured at Silver Scrolls (Sept 2007)

The Trusts Waitakere Brass can finally reveal details of their recent invitation to perform at one of the most prestigious musical events of the year, the APRA Silver Scrolls Awards 2007, which saw Brooke Fraser and Jordan Luck take two of the evenings major awards.

This is one of the music industries top awards and the band were sworn to confidentiality before the event, which took place on Tuesday 18 th September at Auckland Town Hall, as their inclusion in the evening's entertainments was part of a surprise finale, which saw them march onto the stage, before being joined by Don McGlashan, one of the industry's leading songwriters, and his band BLAM BLAM BLAM.

The combination performed the hit single "There Is No Depression In New Zealand" which was a massive hit for the band in the 80's and was extremely well received.

Waitakere were excellent ambassadors, performing at the highest level, having had only one short rehearsal, and after getting the music only the night before the gig.

Feedback was extremely positive and exposing some of the leading figures of the Australasian music industry to brass bands on a star-studded evening like this can only be good for the brass band movement as a whole.

The Trusts Waitakere Brass would like to thank the event organizer Victoria Kelly for the invitation, which will help further raise awareness of the standards, capabilities and flexibilities of Brass Bands throughout New Zealand , as well as the talented Kingsley Melhuish who arranged the music for the big finale.

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Waitakere / Kumeu Auxiliary Workshop (June 2007)

Space was in short supply when 50 players from the Kumeu Brass Auxiliary Band and ‘The Trusts’ Waitakere Brass joined together for a workshop on the 22nd of June. Waitakere Brass had volunteered to help the Kumeu Auxillary Band with preparations for their first ever National competition.

The experience was an inspiring one for the Kumeu students when they were treated to a rendition of their test piece by the Waitakere players. The performance created surprised faces and big smiles as the youngsters heard the top band in full flight. The evening was then spent with Steven Booth taking the Kumeu Auxiliary Band through their music, with the Waitakere members offering support and guidance to the players.

The progress of the Kumeu Auxiliary Band during the rehearsal was remarkable, and the A-Grade players enjoyed passing on their experience to the up-and-coming students. The evening was great fun for all involved and the bands look forward to meeting again for a combined concert in October.

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Waitakere Win Auckland Contest (June 2007)

The Trusts Waitakere Brass Following on from its recent successes at the ABA solo competition, The Trusts Waitakere Brass, under their MD Steven Booth, prepared for the up-coming New Zealand National Championships with a series of wins at the Auckland regional contest.

Due to the absence of two other Auckland A Grade bands, Waitakere had no trouble in taking the title, however they still had to convince adjudicator Gary Bilton that they were worthy of victory, and this they did with conviction.

The band were on fine form and, despite one or two minor blemishes in the Test, produced some excellent musical performances, dropping only 2 points in the hymn and 1 point in the march, and winning all three sections, as well as the overall ABA title.

Waitakere now look forward to some hard work in preparation for the Nationals, particularly on the set work 'Concerto Number 1' which will no doubt provide a huge challenge for every competing band. [ Results ]

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The Trusts Waitakere Brass - Top BRASS (May 2007)

Members of The "Trusts" Waitakere Brass were jubilant at rehearsal on Monday evening following a very successful day of competition at the recent Auckland Bands Association 2007 Solo and Party competitions held on the North Shore on Sunday. They had every reason to be as members from the band managed to win seven of the eight events entered and secure the CONDUCTORS CUP (awarded to the band with the highest winner's scores)

The band members achieved seven firsts, four seconds and two thirds. In the winners circle were Musical Director, Steven Booth with two individual firsts and a duet result with Principal Bass Stuart Bennion. The adjudicator summed up his remarks on Steven's performances as "World Class- Bravissimo !" Other first places included Courtney Mann on tenor horn, Gavin Baker on Baritone, Steve Taylor on Bass Trombone and the star in the top slot LISA ROGERS in the Championship Not Slow Melody, the highest award at the championships. Once again the adjudicator comments summed up Lisa's playing as "Just Awesome"

Lisa and her partner Sergio Marshall are dedicated musicians, traveling for three hours from Hamilton twice a week to play in the band. This title is a well-deserved reward for that hard work and dedication. [ Results ]

Lisa receiving the Championship Not Slow Melody cup from adjudicator Matt van Emmerik (right).

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Concert Review - Walk Down West End (May 2007)

by Lee Farley

Not having been to a Waitakere Trusts Brass Band concert in a couple of years, I didn’t really know what to expect. Arriving half an hour before the start time, it was nice to see audience keen to get there early and secure a good seat! A steady stream of people kept rolling in, with a very happy attitude. Families of grandparents, parents and their kids seemed all to be equally looking forward to the night

The concert started on time, and emcee Barry Moss had an enjoyable relaxed style. I was surprisingly impressed with the content of the programme notes, which contained excellent information and were pitched really well by contextualizing pieces in terms of their representation of a genre or importance for a composer. By the time the emcee had read the intro, you were really looking forward to hearing the piece!

The band had a good vibe within its members. Backstage at half time the atmosphere was merry, and onstage it was positive. Solos from various members of the band gave those players a great opportunity to take centre stage, including SINGING as well as brass playing! The singing created an interesting variety in the concert, with Stuart Bennion's "If I Were a Rich Man" being topical with "Fiddler" playing at the Civic

Artistically speaking the concert was mixed. There were moments when the band was playing the role of community band and others where great sounds were achieved. One highlight was Sergio Marshall's solo horn playing with the band - just the smoothest and richest sound in a beautiful slow melody with sensitive band accompaniment. When finished, I noted other members of the band seemed moved by his playing, and were proud of Sergio - great support to see within a band

Most of the audience seemed to live in the Waitakere area, and talked about the band with a sense of ownership. Conductor Steven Booth had put together an eclectic programme including a bracket from local Waitakere Ladies' Choir, conducted by the band's bass trombone player, Kieth Stubley. From all accounts the Waitakere Band is doing a really good job of connecting to and involving their local community

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Waitakere Australian Tour Easter 2007

Waitakere certainly turned a few heads in its recent visit to Australia. Steven Booth reports..

The Waitakere Band return from their trip to the Australian Nationals buoyed by some excellent performances, successes, new friends made and enhanced reputation.

The band's soprano cornet player Fendal Hill won the Soprano Cornet Championship and earned some excellent feedback and special mention by the adjudicator in the Champion of Champions, whilst guest Tuba player Steve Packer became the Eb Bass Champion of Australia for the second year in succession.

Other soloists also produced great performances and gained 3rd and 5th places, whilst the band's quartet, comprising Ian Billington, Lisa Rogers, Sergio Marshall and Bari Thomas, gained 2nd place in the Open Quartet.

Saturday morning saw the band resplendent in their turquoise marching uniforms ready for the street march. An hour and a half of waiting around presented some entertaining moments, including the sighting of former Waitakere MD Andy Snell carrying a bass drum, for his new band Willoughby. The band presented themselves extremely well under the professional direction of Drum Major Pete Johns, in fact Pete was so good at his job that he won best drum major of the whole competition.

In the "main" band events the band produced a magical setting of the hymn I'll Walk With God , followed by an extremely, technical and musical performance of the difficult set work Terra Australis , in which the band gained overall 4th place. This was despite some very unusual acoustics on stage which took many bands by surprise.

This piece featured many of the band's players in solos or cadenzas, far too many to list individually, but every single player played with dignity and confidence. We can be proud of all of them. Noteable also were the percussion section who tackled one of the most difficult percussion parts in banding test-pieces and played fantastically well, and the band's Australian Champion soprano cornet player Fendal Hill who produced one of the best performances of the fiendishly difficult soprano part on the day.

On the second day the band treated the audience to and exciting and again, musical rendition of their own choice work English Heritage. The slow section of this performance was highlighted by many as one of their highlights of the weekend, featuring particularly Principal cornet Leon Renilson, Flugel horn Lisa Rogers and Tenor Horn Sergio Marshall. Eb Bass Stu Bennion, Solo Euphonium Bari Thomas and Solo Trombone Stuart Ritchie also marked themselves for special mention by virtue of their solo playing.

The band finished their weekend's work with the march Mephistopheles which, whilst a good performance with some great contrasts and brilliant playing, sometimes lacked the rhythmic discipline usually produced by the band. This may have been a result of having just finished the own choice testpiece which in itself is over 13 minutes long.

The above performance gained the band 5th place overall when the marks were aggregated which is an excellent start to the band's new era.

During the weekend the band also performed a concert with Australian Band Moreland City, who also provided a welcome barbecue and were excellent hosts.

Waitakere would also like to thank Darebin Band for allowing the band the use of their bandroom for rehearsals, and Steven and the band would like to offer their congratulations to all the victorious soloist and bands, especially Howard Taylor and Brisbane Excelsior whose fantastic performances justifiably earned them an historical treble.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend for the band with some great performances and, more importantly made lots of new friends and cemented further relationships with others.

Teamwork, attitude, professionalism, musicianship were all evident in abundance during the band's appearance at the Australian National Championships, and nothing displayed this more than the following email received by the guest principal cornet Leon Renilson following his first appearance with the band:

"……..a good time I feel to thank everyone in the band for making me so incredibly welcome out there in NZ and OZ for the last few weeks. It was fantastic to meet you all and be part of the band preparing for the contest (and the partying was pretty good too from what I remember!).

Looks like Steve has created a little utopia with Waitakere. Both Steve and I were members of Kennedys Swinton Brass when Dave King was there, it was a very unique band and after Dave left most people in that band have drifted around for years trying to find another band with the same sort of ethos, most gave up playing because they never found THAT band again. I think Steve may currently be nearer than any of the members of Kennedys with finding a new band to fill that gap in their banding life, Kennedys was a one-off that will never exist again, but I certainly feel there is something special at a building stage there in Waitakerie.

We've won plenty of majors between us but Steve will tell you, its not the winning, its not even the taking part, it's the journey you make to get to that point that makes it all worthwhile and you should never stop travelling."

The band are now preparing for their next concert, a Walk Down West End on May 4th at Glen Eden Playhouse, followed by more contest preparation for the Auckland Band Association contest, and New Zealand Nationals.

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Waitakere Welcome Scotsman (February 2007)

Not knowing a sole person in New Zealand, Scottish Bass player Brian Mackie stepped off the plane this morning (11 February 2007) in Auckland after 30 hours flight time from the UK.

Later in the afternoon members of the Waitakere City Brass welcomed him with a traditional Kiwi BBQ at the lovely home of Stephen Booth, and 4Barsrest Downunder roving report Owen Melhuish was there to speak with Brian about his career so far.

"So far I love the wine, the beer and the people. Tomorrow night I will be at band practice as the band prepares for a major concert on Sunday and also the Australian Championships in Ivanhoe Melbourne in April. I will be on BBb bass and really looking forward to meeting new friends," said Mackie.

"I started as a founding member of the Kilmarnock Concert Brass formed in 1973 and this band was the youngest band to ever qualify for the Nationals (Championship section) at the Royal Albert Hall in 1979, with an average age of only 19 years. The band had a golden period under Andrew Keacie MBE where itwon each section from 4th to Championship in successive years."

"My playing career includes a 20 year gap where I played not a note. But in the late 90's I heard some recordings of some of the latest music by the likes of Philip Wilby that made me hungry for the contesting and concert buzz and just knew I had to be back in banding. So I went along to Whitburn where we promptly qualified for the Nationals in 1998 playing Blitz."

Brian has left behind a successful career with BMW Leasing to begin a new chapter in his life in New Zealand playing with a resurgent Waitakere City Brass. (courtesy of 4BarsRest Downunder

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Waitakere Perform at Wintergardens (February 2007)

Saturday 10 February at 2PM saw the band playing at the Wintergardens in the Auckland Domain.This was part of the Music in Parks initiative by the Auckland City Council. The hot sun didn't keep folk away and the band played well to a very appreciative audience.

The concert featured soloists; Bari Thomas with is beautiful account of Pokarekare Ana on euphonium and Sergio Marshall with the ever popular Karen Carpenter classic Goodbye to Love arranged for tenor horn. The band played a wide range of styles including Its Not Unusual - featuring the bands magnificent trombone section, Fantasy on Tico Tico, Dave Brubecks Blue Rondo a la Turk to name a few.

As the band drew near the end of the programme the clouds closed in and heavy monsoon like rain brought the programme to an early conclusion and sent the audience scuttling for the glasshouses.

MD Steven Booth compered the afternoons performance with a good rapport with both the band and the audience, although we still don't know what Steven had against soprano player Fendall Hills hat.

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