Band showcases contest choices
Musical director to step down, stay as cornet player
LThe national contest brings out the best in the band, so it is fantastic for the full band to be competing this year.
Chris Craddock, band president
evin & Districts Brass will present a prenational contest concert on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm at The Salvation Army Worship & Community Centre, Durham St, Levin.
The band will showcase the full national contest repertoire, including those to be played by the three ensembles and four solo entries.
Featured will be Heilig, Heilig, Heilig, arranged for the band by musical director Colin Honey. This performance will be the world premiere of this arrangement. Also featured will be the C Grade test piece Napoleon On The Alps by Philip Harper, and the band’s Own Choice test selection, Viking Age by Thierry Deleruyelle. These major musical works for brass band are “brilliantly exciting and sure to thrill the audience”, band president Chris Craddock said.
Four of the band’s soloists will perform their national contest pieces. Three younger members of the band will perform their solos with piano accompaniment provided by Beryl Carter. Fifteen-year-old Aiden West is entered in the Junior Cornet competition, in a strong field of 17 entries, and he will play Wiederkehr.
The two youngest members of the band will compete in the Junior Slow Melody — 13-yearold Deron Flores, playing Silver Threads Amongst The Gold, will be attending his first National Contest, and 12-year-old Bella Price, will play O Sole Mio. The Junior Slow Melody class is the largest section at the national contest with 32 participants.
Senior band member Andrew Aitken will compete in the Open Flugel Horn section, playing the set-piece, Concertino for Flugel Horn, Movements 2 and 3, and will be accompanied on piano by his mother, Joan Aitken. This class is another strong field, with 17 entries.
The band’s three ensemble entries at the national contest will also play their pieces — the sextet will play Swing Praise, and two quartets will play Choral from Sleeper Awake and Highbury Variations respectively, the latter being an original brass ensemble composition by the band’s musical director, Colin Honey. Levin & Districts Brass is the defending national champion in both the Large Ensemble and Small Ensemble sections from last year’s national contest held in Christchurch. This year 28 ensembles entered.
The national contest this year is being held in Wellington from Wednesday, July 13, to Saturday, July 16. A party of 40 band members and supporters will travel from Levin to Wellington daily to represent Horowhenua at the national contest, and the band joins seven other bands competing in the C Grade.
The 2021 National Contest in Wellington was postponed due to Covid-19, and, one year on, the Brass Band Association of New Zealand is thrilled that 32 bands have entered the 2022 National Contest.
The soloists will perform at Wellington College on Wednesday and Thursday and the ensembles are being judged on Wednesday in a room at the Basin Reserve. The full band will compete in the C Grade competition on stage in the recently completed Alan Gibbs Centre auditorium at Wellington College on Friday and Saturday. There will be no street march at this year’s contest due to organisational time constraints from earlier Covid restrictions.
Musical director Colin Honey says he is impressed with the way the band is playing currently and expected the results to reflect the band’s high standard. After 13 years as the band’s musical director, Colin will be retiring at the end of July, and this will be his last national contest in that role. Sunday’s concert is his final public concert in Levin.
During Colin’s time leading the band, Levin & Districts Brass has won several national championship honours. Colin will not be lost to the band, remaining as a cornet player under newly appointed musical director Mathew (Mat) Johnston.
Band president Chris Craddock said the band is really looking forward to the contest and the challenge of playing some highly demanding brass band test music. “The national contest brings out the best in the band, so it is fantastic for the full band to be competing this year, along with ensembles and soloists, especially featuring our youth,” he said.
The concert on Sunday begins at 2pm, with doors opening to the public at 1pm. The concert is expected to conclude by 3.30pm.
For further information please contact band president: Chris Craddock
027 410 2420.