By Alan Wilkie, president of the City of Wollongong Brass & Wind Bands

Following up on their success at the 2023 Australian National Band Championships in Newcastle, the City of Wollongong Junior Brass Band is set to compete in the 2024 event in Adelaide.

The band won the Junior C Grade title in 2023, making them the current National Champions. This year the band will be taking on other bands in the Junior B Grade event.

“It’s really exciting to have our junior band travelling to Adelaide to compete on the national stage again in 2024,” said the band’s musical director, Des Cannings. “The kids have worked really hard throughout 2023 and the band is sounding great as they prepare for the 2024 contest.”

Band members recently spent the weekend fine-tuning their performances at an overnight camp where they rehearsed for more than 10 hours over the two days and were tutored by brass musicians from Sydney and the Illawarra.

Residents of the Illawarra will be able to preview the Junior Brass Band contest pieces when they perform at the “Generations in Harmony” concert on Saturday, 23 March, where they will be supported by the City of Wollongong Brass & Wind Bands.

“We always try to organise a pre-contest concert for bands that are going on-stage at a big event,” Des said. “There’s nothing like playing in front of a live audience in contest-like conditions, so the 2024 pre-Nationals concert will be a really important experience for the kids. It’d be great to have a big audience for them to play to!”

The concert will be at the Figtree Anglican Church Auditorium (4-10 Gibsons Rd, Figtree) at 2pm on Saturday, 23 March. For more details visit the band’s website.

The National Band Championship events will be live streamed by brassbanned.com, so tune in on 30 March and cheer on the City of Wollongong Junior Brass Band.

For more information, visit the website of the Wollongong City Brass & Wind Bands