Courtesy of ODT – 29 July, 2009,
Three Dunedin secondary school pupils may need more than a couple of band-aids when they head to Burnham Military Camp later this year for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Brass Band.
Gregory Thomson (John McGlashan College), Kalie Eathorne-Gould (Kavanagh College) and Rose Evans (Bayfield High School) are among the 47-strong band which will meet in September.
The course is available to the best secondary school players available for each instrument. Gregory (15) was selected to play Repiano Cornet, Kalie (16) was selected to play 2nd Cornet and Rose (15) will play 1st Flugel.
Not only will they receive musical training from leading members of the New Zealand Army Band, they will also be put through their paces in the field and train on the same concourse as New Zealand’s military personnel at Burnham during the week-long course.
The band’s members will also be given master-classes on conducting and arranging music for brass bands, but the main goal for the ensemble will be to prepare for a concert with the New Zealand Army Band at the Christchurch Town Hall for the city’s primary school pupils.
The trio join a long line of prominent brass musicians who made their humble beginnings in the NZSSBB and went on to play in some of the world’s top musical ensembles.
John Lewis – ODT