Matt Hewson
A local brass band took out top honours at the Victorian Bands’ League 2024 State Band Championships in Melbourne last weekend.
Geelong West Brass Band were named champions in the Open B Grade Brass section at Hawthorn Town Hall on Saturday, July 27.
In a comprehensive victory the 33-member Geelong outfit outscored its competitors in every one of the four performance pieces. The final scores were Geelong West 229 (out of 250), City of Greater Dandenong 211 and Box Hill City 210.
Geelong West musical director Jason Mears congratulated his band members for their collective efforts.
“The win represents the hard work of all of our players who dedicate long hours of practice and commitment to great musicianship,” he said.
“We rehearse once a week from 7.30 to 9.30 every Tuesday night, but we began getting 15 or 16 people turning up much earlier to go through parts that may be causing some issues.
“We had a lot of members spending a lot of time practising at home, a few extra rehearsals, and all that commitment obviously paid off on a Saturday night.”
Mr Mears, who took over as interim conductor only three months before the event, said there was a “sense of relief” that the change had not negatively affected the band’s performance.
“We had a conductor change and I guess we didn’t know how we would come out of that,” Mr Mears said.
“But… about two weeks out I knew that if we played pretty much to the best of our ability we would be in with a big chance of winning.
“It’s the first time the band has won that competition for a few years now. I think the last time they won it was 2019.
“Whether it’s Australian championships or state championships, Box Hill and the City of Greater Dandenong Band have also been involved in all those competitions, so it was good (to beat them).”
The win is timely for Geelong West, which has recently established the less competition-focused Sparrow Park Brass Band and is preparing to start up the Geelong West Academy Band for younger players by next year.
“We want to have a strong Academy foundation,” Mr Mears said.
“Growing a junior program that can feed into our bands, that’s obviously our future.”
Visit geelongwestbrassband.com.au to join or for more information.
