With thanks to Head of Music, Miss Mary Lin

The annual National Concert Band Festival took place in Napier at the end of the school holidays. Schools, communities and tertiary bands gathered to perform, compete and connect over workshops and professional development sessions for different instruments.

Our College Concert Band worked hard to prepare for this Festival and so it was unfortunate that their journey to Napier, subsequent performance, and then journey home became more than a little fraught! When bad weather set in, their flight was rerouted, and their performances were initially delayed. Then they had to take to the stage with reduced numbers while a third of the band were rerouted through Palmerston North ….only to then have a quarter of the band depart prior to the rescheduled performance to meet their rescheduled flights!

The musicians had to settle their nerves and deal with the long delays and missing players yet still accomplished a well-rounded performance, to receive a Silver at the prize giving. The adjudicators commented on the 'amazing variety of styles on display' and ' stunning work and musical energy'.

The senior musicians also competed in the soloist category and received the following awards for their individual performance:

Gold - Charles Sang, Piano

Silver - Evan Metcalfe, French Horn

Bronze - Ethan Fung, Clarinet

Bronze - Steven Yu, French Horn

Bronze - Elisa Wu, Flute

The band would like to pay a special thank Mr Baker and Mr Hedder for looking after the band during the weekend in Napier, and the parents for supporting the transport of the auxiliary instruments.

After a weekend that was both trying and rewarding, the band has now regrouped to focus on the upcoming KBB Music Festival. Well done on turning difficult circumstances into a worthy performance! We’ll look forward to hearing about the KBB Festival.

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