Ha¯wera Brass Band to bring music to St Mary’s
A South Taranaki band is bringing the sound of music to a recently reopened church.
The Ha¯wera Brass Band will perform their upcoming concert, Hymnfest, at St Mary’s Anglican Church. The church, which reopened last year, had been closed since 2018 for strengthening work due to it being an earthquake risk.
Ha¯wera Brass Band musical director Karl Anderson says Hymnfest will be the first concert in the building since it reopened.
“It’s the first major performance in that space.”
The concert focuses on confessions, and Karl says the church is the perfect venue to host the performance.
“We will be playing a mix of some of the greatest hymn arrangements.”
He says they will be supported by local performers Gary Anderson and Claudia Blewett.
“Gary is my dad and also a great
singer who has been performing for quite some time. He will be accompanied by Claudia Blewett, who is another well-known performer in South Taranaki.”
The local Waugh family will also perform, he says.
“They are fantastic. I think they’re the Ha¯wera version of the von Trapp family.”
As well as being the first concert in the church since its reopening, Hymnfest is the band’s first performance of the year.
“We performed at the Egmont A&P Show earlier this year for 20 minutes. We enjoy being involved in community events, but this is our first concert of the year.”
He says the concert will be a
fundraiser to get the band to the national contest in Auckland in July.
“We attended our first national contest two years ago. The yearly contest alternates between the North and South Island, with this being the next North Island tournament.”
The band will also give a koha to the church for using the space.
“It is such a great place and they do lots of awesome things, such as the community garden there.”
Tickets are now on sale and Karl expects them to go quickly.
“To avoid missing out, I’d encourage people to purchase tickets as soon as possible.”