My memory is a little hazy, however I think this was my twelfth Nationals Campaign. Brief recap here:
1986 (Adelaide) - still in high school, this was the only time I played with St Leos College CBC at a Nationals event. My first Nationals with the legendary John Woods as conductor, and playing trombone, my preferred instrument.
1990 (Melbourne) - my first with Box Hill City Band (then in A grade), and under the baton of the abovementioned John Woods. I think the venue was the Robert Blackwood Hall? No clear memory of most of this event.
1994 (Melbourne) - Melbourne Town was the venue, and I have a very clear memory of being stopped by Barry McKimm, the composer of the piece we had just played (Ash Wednesday) and being accused of playing a wrong note that affected the entire mood of the piece (in my defence the music was hand written by the composer, and had numerous transposition errors).
1998 (Melbourne) - Joe O'Callaghan had taken over the baton from John as musical director. The highlight of this was winning the "Own Choice"section, with a piece called Trittico. The audio tape we received with the adjudicator's comments started with an exclamation of "Holy Moly!" as we dazzled him with the opening bars of the piece.
2002 (Geelong) - I was on the Victorian Bands League organising committee for this Championships, and it was a contest from hell, as infighting combined with a financial disaster saw this to be an experience I did not want to repeat. Musically, we had the opportunity to play at the Frank Costa Hall in Geelong, and I think this was my first Nationals playing an instrument other than trombone (euphonium).
2007 (Melbourne) - I had taken a year off and had returned to a new conductor (David Farrell), and had taken the opportunity to play another instrument for these Championships (Eb Tuba). No great memory of this event.
2009 (Sydney) - My first interstate Championships with Box Hill, just a couple of months after Black Saturday. This trip did not go well. Wrong headspace to be taking part, and would lead to my resignation from the band a couple of months later.
2010 (Hobart) - New band (Footscray-Yarraville City Band (FYCB)) and new conductor (Phillipa Edwards) in the highly competitive "A" Grade. I was playing second baritone, with my sister-in-law on first baritone, and brother playing Eb Tuba. The highlight for me was playing one of my favorite major works for brass band, Extreme Makeover.
2011 (Adelaide) - My contesting pinnacle to date as FYCB came second in A Grade overall. This was a great result achieved after a lot of hard work leading up to the event. That second place did feel earned.
2012 (Melbourne) - After some time off in the latter half of 2011 I returned to FYCB, this time on tenor horn. This is not my favourite instrument and was (will be) my only Nationals playing tenor horn.
2018 (Melbourne) - After resigning from FYCB in 2012 I took a few years off playing to deal with other life issues. However 2016 saw me return to Box Hill City Band to reacquaint myself with brass bands. Simon Brown was the new conductor and I ended up playing first baritone. It was a great re-entry into contesting at a National level.
Which then leads us to 2019 (Brisbane) -
The band conducted an interesting experiment where, instead of having rehearsals all the way up to the Nationals (I know of some bands where they will rehearse nightly in the week leading to the contest), we would have a week or so off. The last rehearsal we had was on Sunday 7th April then had a rehearsal on Thursday night (18th). This was organised to allow people to have some sort of holiday with their families before attending the Nationals. It also allowed the band to come up to Brisbane feeling fresh, rather than tired. This experiment was in keeping with the band's ethos as a social community band rather than a fiercely competitive one.
I think the experiment was a success.
Box Hill City Band came fourth overall (from a total of 16 bands).
We are very pleased with the result.
I am very happy with both how I played, as well as how the band played.
This is the first contest I have had in recent memory (ever?) where I wasn't affected by severe nerves on stage. I see this as a personal win. I feel I have conquered ... something, and is an achievement on par with the band's placing.
Rest day today - will probably do some touristy stuff here in Brisbane, before we start the long road back home tomorrow.
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