GCB

Congratulations to the Youth band members who made the journey to Robert Blackwood Hall at Monash Univeristy on August 15th and who performed their chosen works exceptionally well. The band received many positive comments from Robert Sheldon who was our critical friend. Well done to Kate Zampatti for preparing a varied program to such a good standard.

We have had confirmation from the VBL that the Senior Band will report at 4:00pm and perform on stage at 5:00pm on Saturday August 21st in Ballarat. At this stage Jemima is keen to have a rehearsal prior to the competition and this will be discussed at rehearsal – venue likely to be in Ballarat. Our departure time from Geelong will depend on this rehearsal and we are unlikely to return before 7:30pm.

On Friday August 6th and Friday August 13th, ALL band rehearsals will be held in the Austin Grey Centre, a part of the Humble Centre at Geelong College Senior School, Aphraisa Street, Newtown. This is not the concert hall but the rehearsal room on your left when you enter the foyer.

The Youth band will be performing as a community band at this years Melbourne Schools Band Festival. Their performance will be during the evening section on Sunday August 15th at Monash University.

The State Band Championships will once again be held in Ballarat on the weekend of August 21st & August 22nd. The Senior Band will once again be defending their Open A Grade title at this event. It would be great to have some supporters come along and cheer for the band. Details of performance times and venue will be advised as soon as they come through from the VBL.

We have a number of performances scheduled for term 3 which include the Melbourne Schools Band Festival for the Youth Band, the State Championships for the Senior band and an in-house concert at Robertson Hall for all three bands. Dates are as follows:

Sunday August 15th – Melbourne Schools Band Festival – Youth Band only – will need to leave Geelong at 4pm and will return around 1030pm.
Saturday August 21st VBL State Championships Ballarat – Senior Band Only – times to be confirmed
Sunday September 12th at 2pm.

We had the opportunity to invite Dr Rob McWilliam, a very experienced Australian conductor who lives in the USA to come and work with the Youth and Senior Bands on Friday August 6th. Rob will be out to work with bands at the Melbourne Schools Music Festival, so it was very opportune to have him come and work with the Youth and Senior bands as they work towards their performances at the MSMF and the State Championships respectively. We realise that there is an MSO concert in Geelong that night but encourage all members to attend rehearsal on this night so that Rob will have a full band to work with and you will have to opportunity to work with a very experienced conductor.

Geelong Entertainment Books are now available for $55 each. The GCB are currently selling these books as a fundraiser for the band. The book contains $1000’s of savings and all you need to do is use the book 2-3 times and you have made your money back. We can also purchase Melbourne Entertainment Books at a cost of $65. Unsold entertainment books will be returned to the distributor at the end of July, so please see Trish if you would like to purchase one or email geelongcb@gmail.com.

As we farewell Mark Irwin off on his overseas trip this term, we welcome Jemima Bunn to conduct the Senior band and take them to the State Championships in August. Jemima is a very experienced conductor who is travelling from Melbourne each week to conduct, so it would be great if Senior band members could make an extra effort to attend rehearsals regularly. We welcome Jemima and hope that she enjoys taking the Senior Band this term.

Reherasal for all bands will begin again on Friday July 16th at the regular times. If you are unable to attend a rehearsal during term, please remember to email your apology to geelongcb@gmail.com. We hope to see all members back at rehearsal this Friday.