Brass Whanganui had youth on its side at this year’s national champs

Brass Whanganui is solidifying its place in the top echelon. Photo / Michael Davis

Brass Whanganui has solidified its place as one of the country’s best brass bands at this year’s national championships.

It was promoted to the A-grade competition in 2021 after dominating the B-grade.

It placed seventh this year, a position musical director Bruce Jellyman said was “a happy place”.

“When you’re back in the A-grade, your first priority is to survive in the upper echelon.

“We had an awesome time. The band is positive and pushing hard.”

The A-grade band with the worst statistics over a two-year period was relegated and the best B-grade band replaced it, Jellyman said.

Consistency was the key.

“We’re not suddenly at the top end or the bottom end. We’re in the middle of the A-grade, and that’s really important for us.

“You can’t be up and down and all around the place.”

Brass Whanganui finished fourth in the A-grade in 2022 - its first year back at the top table.

One advantage it had was its youth, Jellyman said.

“When I look at the other bands, we are very, very young.

“I’ve got 15 and 16-year-olds in my band. Few, if any, others have that. We are up against mature, adult bands.”

Younger members shone individually at nationals, with silvers for Mitchell Cosford in the Under-15 Slow Melody and Toby Clark and Bryn Morgan in the Junior Duet.

They were joined by Connor Rooke to claim the Junior A Ensemble trophy.

Clark also won the Junior Baritone competition and Morgan came third in the Junior Trombone.

Jellyman said the junior class was for under-19s, but Clark was the oldest Whanganui entrant at 16.

“We’ve still got at least another two years with the same group of kids playing in the same class.

“I’ve been working with them so long, I forget how young they still are.”

In the open (senior) grade, Fendall Hill placed second in the Open Soprano, Jonathon Greenwell came third in the Open Bass Trombone and Keenan Buchanan came second in the Open Slow Melody.

Jellyman said highlights of the competition were the Street March, where the band placed second, and the Own Choice category.

“That was called Bipolar. It’s a programmatic piece that describes the neurological condition.

“We had an absolutely stunning day on stage by our standards. It was a great moment and the audience went bananas after we’d finished.

“It was just great.”

Brass Whanganui was the only A-grade Band in the central North Island, with the closest competition being in Wellington and Hamilton, Jellyman said.

Next up is a provincial competition in Palmerston North in six weeks, followed by a brass concert in Whanganui.

As well as the A-grade band, Brass Whanganui also runs the Concert Brass and Junior bands.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.