Ararat City Band to join stage shows

Members of the Ararat City Band will take centre stage with a critically acclaimed touring show at the Ararat Town Hall on Friday.

The double-bill show includes Stardust, created and performed by Joel Carnegie, and The Mission, created and performed by Tom Molyneux.

The two shows are stories about love, music and war, and all the things people leave behind.

Ararat City Band secretary Amy Stevens said a group of about six brass-instrument band members had been rehearsing for several months for the performance.

Ms Stevens said the players received sheet music a while ago, rehearsing their parts separately before coming together a few weeks ago to merge their music.

“The group is really excited to be part of the show and is looking forward to performing next week with Tom and Joel,” she said.

Geelong-based The Space Company is presenting the two shows, touring them across the state and including local brass bands wherever they play.

Stardust tells the story of Col Brain, a professional trumpet-cornet player and bandmaster.

Before Col died, he stored all of his life’s possessions in a wooden dresser and locked it up, never to be opened again. So what was inside?

Told through the eyes of his grandson, Joel Carnegie, herein lies the discovery of a time capsule of Australian musical life, in a heart-warming quest to uncover what Col wanted us to know about his life by the things he left behind.

The Mission tells the story of Allan Mcdonald, a ‘fighting Gunditjmara’ man from southwest Victoria, who was one of the state’s first indigenous soldiers to enlist for war.

Allan fought at some of the First World War’s most famous campaigns, including Gallipoli and Beersheba, only to be denied a soldier’s settlement on his return to Australia, and forced from his land at the Lake Condah Mission.

So what drives someone to fight for a country that doesn’t even recognise them as a citizen? How do you keep fighting in an unjust world and why?

Stardust and The Mission will play at the Ararat Town Hall from 7.30pm.

Tickets are $29 and $19 concession, and are available online at www.ararattownhall.com.au.