Darryn Wright joined Southern Area Concert Band in 1997 playing alto saxophone and took on the role of President in 1998. He held this position until taking over the role of the band’s Music Director in 2006 following Craig Seymour’s retirement.

Darryn has been playing music (keyboard) since the age of 5, with his first public performance not long thereafter. He studied flute in high school under the tutorage of Gerard Van Der Geer, and has played saxophone for over 20 years.

During his time at Southern Area, Darryn has, at various times, played alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute, percussion and, more recently, clarinet. Currently he is the leader of the Southern Stars Stage Band, and is assisting Nicole Marshall and Jacinta Ewers as assistant conductor for the Southern Area Training Band.

Other than for the band, Darryn’s passion lies in Musical Theatre and he has been Music Director for many school and amateur theatre company productions, and has served as treasurer at both state and national levels for the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association.

Since moving to Melbourne from Tasmania in 1996, Darryn has also performed with numerous instrumental and vocal ensembles around Melbourne, including The Savoy Opera Company, Free Spirit and the Glen Waverley Uniting Church Orchestra, of which he was Music Director for five years.

Darryn was awarded the honour of Life Membership of Southern Area Concert Band in 2013.

THANK YOU

We trust that you have enjoyed this afternoon’s entertainment and invite you to join us for a cuppa after the show and meet the band members.

We would like to convey our thanks to the following groups of people for helping make today’s concert a reality:

Kingston City Hall Staff City of Kingston

Front of House Volunteers Kingston Bands Network Committee

Individual Band Committees Mel Sweeney (Producer)

Monique Kuhn (Cover and advertising artwork) Band Members Today’s Bands are proudly supported by the City of Kingston

WELCOME Welcome to the 2017 City of Kingston Massed Bands Concert after a short 12-month break!

Today’s concert is the 21st Massed Band concert in 22 years, having only missed 2016 due to some re-structuring in the format of the event.

Kingston City Council very generously sponsors four community music ensembles — Chelsea Concert Band, Moorabbin Brass Band, Moorabbin Jazz Orchestra (MOJO) and Southern Area Concert Band. For the past 22 years each of these bands has come together to create the annual massed bands concert, held around the end of July each year.

Due to some changes in the way the event has been structured, the event was missed in 2016. However, now these changes have been dealt with, we are pleased to be back, and are very happy to present “The Rise of the Phoenix” - a title appropriately suggested by Joseph Yu at one of our early planning meetings, with the event “rising from the ashes” as it were.

Unfortunately, as one of the Council sponsored groups MOJO has decided not to participate in this year’s performance. Therefore our regular audience will notice a few small changes to the new format. The most noticeable and exciting change that has resulted in the re-structuring of the concert is that we are now able to give our audience more massed band excitement with each of the conductors choosing two pieces (rather than the traditional one piece) for the massed band finale section of the performance.

Many thanks to Southern Area Concert Band member Monique Kuhn for the fantastic design of the cover and advertising artwork, bringing together the mythical phoenix and many of the instruments of the ensemble.

We trust that you enjoy todays performance.

MEET OUR CONDUCTORS

Joseph Yu

Joseph Yu has been the Music Director of the Moorabbin Brass Band since 2005.

As a trombonist, Joseph was trained at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK, and the University of Melbourne. He has performed both as an orchestral trombonist and soloist both home and overseas.

Joseph is currently the Head of Brass of Mount Waverley Secondary College and the brass tutor of Camberwell Girls Grammar School.

Joseph is now competing at the World Music Contest (WMC) in Kerkrade, the Nederland. Today's performance is directed by Tony Gu, a Year 10 student from John Monash Science School, who has studied the trombone with Joseph since Year 7, and is now the assistant director and chief music arranger of the Moorabbin Brass Band.

Shane Walterfang

Shane Walterfang is a Melbourne born conductor, trumpeter, and teacher. He received his Master of Education from Deakin University, Diploma of Education from the University of Melbourne, Bachelor of Arts from the Victorian College of Arts and Grad Cert (TESOL) from Deakin.

As a conductor, Shane has been involved with community music for 20 years. His aim is to develop innovative community performances, which provide an aesthetic environment in which audiences willingly invest their emotions. The aim of his performances is to immerse audiences in an aesthetic experience in which they will form meaningful, authentic connections with the music and the performers.

Shane’s conducting credits include performances throughout Australia, New Zealand, China and India. He is currently Musical Director of the Chelsea Concert Band and Musical Director of the Mornington Youth and Citizens Brass Band. He is also the past Associate Conductor of the Grainger Wind Symphony, and has also been Musical Director for several musical theatre productions including Anything Goes, Me and My Gal, Pippin and Annie. His conducting teachers have included Roland Yeung, Rob Wagner, Jerry Nowak and Felix Hauswirth.

As a trumpeter, Shane has played with 5 of Australia’s professional orchestras including 10 years with the Australian Pops Orchestra. He was introduced to everything from Paul Whiteman to Frank Zappa while playing with the Anne and John Hawker Big Band.

Shane is a committed educator who aims to provide a range of engaging and stimulating experiences to encourage people to pursue music as a lifelong activity. He has held the positions of Head of Brass, Director of Music and VCE Coordinator. He is also a past Chair of the Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) – Victorian Chapter.

KINGSTON MASSED BANDS A Night in Tunisia — John ‘Dizzie’ Gillespie & Frank Paparelli arr. Paul Murtha

This is one of Dizzy’s signature tunes. Dizzy said that he composed the tune at a piano at Kelly’s Stable in New York but Art Blakely used to introduce the piece by saying that he was with Dizzy when he composed the tune on the bottom of a garbage can in Texas. All we do know is that Dizzy gave Frank Paparelli a co-writer credit for supposedly unrelated transcription work but Frank didn’t seem to have anything to do with the song. Today’s performance will be conducted by Shane Walterfang.

Music from Carmena Burana — Carl Orff arr. Jay Bocook Originally composed in 1935, today’s presentation is of Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi extracted from the original cantata of around 90 minutes. The text of the full cantata is based on 24 poems dating from the 11th and 12th century covering an ageless range of topics including the fickleness of fortune and wealth, the ephemeral nature of life, the joy of the return of spring, and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gluttony, gambling and lust. Of course, it may be better known to many of our audience as the big beer ad theme. Today’s performance will be conducted by Darryn Wright.

Heart of Courage — Thomas Bergensen & Nick Phoenix arr. Tony Gu Two Steps from Hell (Bergensen and Phoenix) is an American production music company that focuses on movie and trailer music. This piece has featured in the trailer for Chronicles of Narnia, as well as various other television advertisements and computer games. Today’s performance will be conducted by Tony Gu.

Romeo and Juliet (Love Theme) — Nino Rota arr. Tony Gu Taken from Franco Zefferelli’s 1968 movie Romeo and Juliet, this is one of the most classic and memorable romantic themes of any film. Nino Rota’s composition reflects the tragic passion of the famous story it portrays. Today’s performance will be conducted by Tony Gu.

The Dragon Prince — Rick Kirby During the Middle Ages, France was well known for holding poetry tournaments. This music describes the fantasy story of young troubadour who attended one of these tournaments but kept his identity shrouded in secrecy. A beautiful young maiden fell in love with this prince and they married with two conditions – she could only ever see him when only when he chose and she could never ask him about his secret. As all good stories go, life was good until one day when she crept into his private room and saw him transform into a huge dragon with green scales and powerful wings.

William Tell Overture — Gioachino Rossini arr. Mark Williams Rossini (1792-1868) was a famous Italian composer of opera that was so successful in his field he was able to retire at the height of his fame at the age of 37. Some of his best known works include The Barber of Saville, The Italian in Algiers and William Tell. This arrangement features the first section of the opera and represents the sunrise, leading to the famous “Lone Ranger” theme known and loved by everyone. Today’s performance will be conducted by Darryn Wright.

MOORABBIN BRASS BAND Founded in 1878 as the Moorabbin Shire Band, The Moorabbin Brass Band is active as a brass ensemble group, performing for the community at Anzac day and Citizenship ceremonies, music festivals, church services and school fetes and in the AFL Grand final Parades.

A small, yet thriving musical group, the Band performs in a wide range of musical style, from the Renaissance to the contemporary Jazz genre. The Band also focuses in honing its members' ensemble skills, and spends a substantial portion of its rehearsal on tuning, intonation, articulation and ensemble balance, which has earned it critical acclaim from its audience.

The Moorabbin Brass Band rehearses every Wednesday evening at the Moorabbin Youth Hall, Ewar Street, Moorabbin. New members are always welcome. For more information, please contact Joseph Yu on 0431963877 or yulungsangjoseph@icloud.com .

Programme Sans (from “Undertale”)

Sans is a character from Undertale, a critically acclaimed role-play video game by Toby Fox, who also composed the music for the game.

Sans is laid back, often sleeping on the job, taking breaks, and on one occasion he also plays the trombone.

His personality is vividly portrayed by this piece of music, arranged for the Moorabbin Brass Band by Tony Gu.

Gymnopedie No. 1

The 3 Gymnopedie by Erik Satie (1866-1925) are almost synonymous with the composer himself, and Gymnopedie No. 1 is perhaps the most famous one. Originally written for the piano, this mild, melancholic piece is arranged for brass ensemble by Joseph Yu.

Round Midnight

Written in 1944, “'Round Midnight” is a jazz standard by Thelonious Monk (1917-1982), which is said to be the most recorded jazz standard by a jazz composer.

With its unconventional harmony and harmonic progression, this piece poses a huge challenge to those who improvise on it.

This arrangement for brass ensemble is made by Joseph Yu.

CHELSEA CONCERT BAND The Chelsea Concert Band is a group of around 25 musicians who meet and perform together at events inside and around the City of Kingston.

Established in 1986, the Chelsea Concert Band is a community group of musicians who play Brass, Woodwind and Percussion Instruments. Our musicians range in age from 14 to 90+. The band performs at a variety of community events including Citizenship Ceremonies, Regular Concerts and the annual Massed Bands Concert.

Chelsea Concert Band rehearse every Monday night at the LF Payne Hall, Chelsea (formerly Chelsea Town Hall, Station Street). New members are always welcome. Please contact chelseaconcertband@gmail.com for more information.

Programme English Folk Song Suite — 1st movement “Seventeen come Sunday”

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is credited as a major developer of the English sound. His music is both powerful and expressive. His English Folk Song Suite was a major development for wind band repertoire in terms of writing purely for this type of ensemble. In 1924, the suite had become so popular that Vaughan Williams himself arranged it for orchestra—virtually something unheard of as usually orchestral pieces were used to enrich the wind band repertoire, rather than crossing over from the other direction.

For Heaven and the Future Vaughan Williams made such an impact on wind band repertoire that composers remain connected to the original work. 92 years after its completion, Samuel Hazo reimages ‘Seventeen come Sunday’ for the possibilities that have developed through nearly a century of wind band evolution.

Hazo writes “What began with true excitement eventually turned into an almost unsolvable musical puzzle. I started putting my ideas on paper and quickly realized that I could not let my setting take a back seat to Vaughan Williams. I could never allow my homage to my teacher and his teacher to be of a lesser level.”

This to us is very much a metaphor for the evolution for the massed bands concert. Without the original we would never be gathered here today and because of the original we are able to reimage and develop the community spirit, which keeps live music vibrant in the city of Kingston.

Imaginarium This piece is dedicated to the people who had the passion and vision to reimage this concert.

The composer of this work states that ‘Inside every person, there is a place where creativity dwells, gears turn, dreams flow, and ideas spark into life. This idea-factory or “Imaginarium” is the place that every creative person goes to, again and again, to find their muse, flesh out ideas, and to exert change on the world around them’. This piece is dedicated to the dreamer, particularly the part of us that see’s possibilities.

SOUTHERN AREA CONCERT BAND The Southern Area Concert Band is one of Victoria's premier community based ensembles and has been contributing to Melbourne's rich cultural life by providing award-winning quality music to the public since 1971.

Our membership of over 45 regular members consists of amateur and semi-professional musicians ranging from school students to retirees. This diverse range of people, ages and backgrounds is cemented together by our love of performing a wide variety of live music both within our local community and around Australia.

Southern Area Concert Band rehearses every Monday night at the NG Wishart Senior Citizens Hall, Nepean Highway, Moorabbin. New members are always welcome. For more information, please contact Darryn Wright on 0437155543 or visit www.sacb.com.au .

Programme Opening Night on Broadway

A new generation of musicals is hitting the “Great White Way”, and is resulting in a renewed vitality in the music written for the stage. This dynamic collection of future classics in a sparkling medley by Michael Brown Includes Springtime for Hitler (from The Producers), the Avenue “Q” theme, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (from Spamalot), For Good (from Wicked) and Circle of Life (from The Lion King).

Dartmoor, 1912 (from War Horse) The music of John Williams is synonymous with Hollywood and the movies, having won and been nominated for dozens of Oscars, Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. His 2011 collaboration with Steven Spielberg for the production of War Horse was no exception, being nominated for six academy awards, two golden globe awards and five BAFTAs. Todays arrangement is by Jay Bocook.

The movie tells the story of a boy (Albert) and his thoroughbred horse (Joey) who are separated at the outbreak of World War I, when Joey is sold to the British cavalry. Against the backdrop of the Great War, Joey begins an odyssey full of danger, joy and sorrow, and he transforms everyone he meets along the way. Meanwhile Albert, unable to forget his equine friend, searches the battlefields of France to find Joey and bring him home.

America (from West Side Story) A modern-day Romeo and Juliet musical, West Side Story is set in New York in the mid 1950s and explores the rivalry between two street gangs - the Jets, a gang of white working class youth; and the sharks, a gang of Puerto Rican youth, and the romance that blossoms between Tony and Maria, from opposing sides.

Written in 1957 by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, the stage version received a Tony nomination for best musical, and in 1961, the film version won 10 of the 11 Academy Awards for which it was nominated.

Today’s arrangement is by Michael Brown.