Australian Concert Bands

Hi everyone, Chris Bowman, VBL President, posted this on Spitvalve a couple of days ago and so far it hasn't got any reponses, so I thought it might be more appropriate here.

http://www.spitvalve.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=2932

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At the recent Delegates Meeting of the Victorian Bands' League (VBL), the possibility of reintroducing a separate Victorian Concert Band Championship in Melbourne was discussed.

Clearly, concert bands have not received an adequate level of respect and support from the VBL.

So that we can engage concert bands throughout Victoria - including the school network - we are considering the reintroduction of this separate event. At this point, the proposed date is the weekend of 21st/22nd June 2008.

The principal benefits of this initiative include:

Singular focus on concert bands and the specific requirements of this band form, rather than being appended to the Victorian Brass Band Championships
Adjudication appropriate to concert bands, including the possible use of multiple adjudicators
Elimination of the need to travel twice to Ballarat (assuming concert bands also participate in the Royal South Street Eisteddfod)
Considerable marketing of this event, including invitations to interstate bands
The Delegates have asked me to survey concert band directors to gauge the level of support for this initiative.

I would appreciate any opinions on this proposal and value any feedback provided.

Chris Bowman
President, VBL

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I don't know if there are many vics on here yet, but what are evryones thoughts on the championships being separated from the brass bands? I think it also shows that the new VBL executive are trying to do what they can to entice Concert Bands to rejoin the VBL.

In SA the contest was separate this year. I think it really needs promotion (as do all Banding events). There were not many Concert Bands participating so I hope it is better next year. (The same thing happens in the State Brass Contest too - many Bands just don't participate. What a wonderful festival of music it would be if they all decided to give it a go for one year as a means of promoting Banding.)

Somehow the genre of Band music needs to be made to seem really "cool" so that young people who do so well in School Bands are keen to continue on after their schooldays. It would be wonderful to see Bands of all kinds growing and thriving.

It would also be great for the division between Brass and Concert Bands to be worn down and for there to be mutual respect between the Musicians.

The idea of a specific contest for the concert bands has merit and I wish the VBL all the best with their efforts to improve all types of Banding.

Very interesting!

Here in NSW there is always a concert band section in the states, just a few weeks behind brass.

But the only prob is that this could put up a bit of a barrier between brass and concert bands. If they are both on the same time, then you get quite a few players watching the other bands...

Be interested to see how this goes!

In the past, there has been a view in victoria throughout the concert bands that the VBL doesn't really care about them and that it is all about brass bands, so running a contest like this and trying to find out what the concert bands want, i think shows that the VBL is committed to promoting and providing for them. There are so many kids playing in concert bands in schools that they understand they need to focus some attention in this area to keep young people associated with the VBL in future.

These days all kids want to play is trumpet or saxophone.

What kid wants to learn a tenor horn or baritone?!

Up here, small town community bands done have the luxury of being a dedicated brass band. Its pretty much take what you can get.

Even one of the local salvation army corps bands has an alto sax in it!!!

Seems to me that brass bands are more successful in larger areas. We tried to get one going here (population of 40 000) but couldnt get the numbers.

But we are able to run a (nearly) full concert band. Just need an oboe and bassoon!!!

Good to see that the VBL have recognised that there is a potential problem and that they are moving to try and overcome it

There are very good reasons for having seperate brass and concert band contests. As follows:

- It is very difficult to find suitable venues that have at least two halls and appropriate warm-up spaces. This is the minimum requirement if the contest is to feature multiple grades across both band genres
- The costs tend to multiply having more spaces e.g. another adjudicator fee, etc.
- It makes it a big day for players who may be playing with a brass band and a concert band
- Scheduling around clashing players, or conductors, is very difficult
- With added complexity comes the possibility of human error, especially when working with a small team of volunteers.
- Having seperate events tends to improve the focus, resulting in a more comfortable and enjoyable day all round

It is worth mentioning that the seperate contest in SA this year attracted the highest number of entries since SABA introduced a concert band section in 2002.

The VBL plan sounds like a good one.

Jubey

OK - so now it's March! Does anyone know who is plaaning to go to the VBL Concert Band Championships? Are Victorian bands going to front up? Anyone coming from interstate?

Jubey

I think we're planning on coming from Adelaide. Unley, that is. However, that is never confirmed until the last second, as usual.

Recently I have been playing in both Concert and Brass bands, (my heart does stay with concert bands ) I would like to see concert bands promoted seperately from the brass band competition and when we compete appropiate adjudicators have been hired. At the recent nationals the adjudicator for B Grade was a clarinet player and wind band oriented. Great for conert bands but not so good for brass bands. It may be easier to administer both brass and concert bands as part the one competition. I thnk though concert bands need to recieve the attentiona dn consideration they deserve.

It was a real pity to see the poor turnout of concert bands for the natinals. Two Qld bands in A grade and only two bands in B Grade. 10 out of 10 for the bands who made an effort to compete but sorry, not a true National competition. Lets hope we get a better response at the Sydney 2009 nationals.

My spies tell me that Unley is a definite starter. So who else? Any bands from Victoria actually going to their own contest?

Jubey

I've heard there were a couple of bands planning to go, but don't know which ones yet.

I can safely say that the other two bands in the B Grade contest at the State Championships will be the Southern Area Concert Band & the Eltham Concert Band. The two A Grade concert Bands are Geelong and Grainger. I don't know who are the C and D grade bands in the contest.

Well the Victorian Championships have come and gone. We know who was there in A and B Grade - but can anyone tell us what happened?

Have not heard the results as yet - nothing updated on the SABA website.

Jubey

The results are up on the VBL website and are as follows:

A Grade Concert:
Grainger Wind Symphony: (Grainger was invited to fill out the A grade contest and were not adjudicated)
Geelong Concert Band: 1st place

B Grade Concert:
Unley Concert Band: 1st place (apparently Unley was invited to attend as well and my contacts tell me they were supposed to compete in the A grade section)
Eltham Concert Band: 2nd place
Southern Area Concert Band: 3rd place

C Grade Concert:
Warrnambool City Band: 1st place
Bendigo & District Concert Band: 2nd place

Junior C Grade Concert:
Melton High School: 1st place
(Melton were placed up against a Junior C grade Brass Band, Hyde Street Youth but it appears both bands were judged seperately.

The points breakdown is on the page the VBL have linked through on the VBL website.

Thanks - that's very interesting.

Would have liked to have seen Grainger compete in the top section - might have been interesting to see how the points panned out. Geelong are certinly a classy outfit.

As far as I know Unley always plays B Grade when contesting interstate or at nationals. The 'A Grade' in South Australia is generally regarded as being a grade lower than eastern states. Besides Geelong beat Unley by a large margin to win the National B Grade last year so there would not be a grading issue there. Besides, having heard them at the South Australian Championships last week (where they were placed second!) they are, in my view, a good B Grade standard but would be out of the water in the top section.

Can hardly believe that Warnambool is back on track - that's fantastic!! As a band they were almost defunct only a short while back.

Jubey