Catfish Foundation Sponsors “The Silent Anzac” Project
We are pleased to announce that the Catfish Foundation has come on board as a sponsor of The Silent Anzac Project. The Catfish Foundation was created to celebrate and support storytelling and creative endeavour. Lyn Thurnham of the Catfish Foundation flew down from Sydney to attend The Silent Anzac show at the Box Hill Town Hall last Saturday night. “I was extremely impressed with the show and I am pleased that we are able to support the project” said Lyn. Colin Harrison, Project Manager, said “We are delighted to welcome the Catfish Foundation on board as a major sponsor and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship”.The Catfish Foundation joins our other project sponsors, The Pratt Foundation and Geoffrey Haggard (son of Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Haggard , 2nd in command of the AE2).If you or an organisation you are a part of are interested in sponsoring this important project, please get in touch with us.
William McInnes to star in local production of The Silent ANZAC
William McInnes, well known for his film and TV roles in shows such as Blue Heelers, Sea Change and The Time of our Lives, will be starring in a production of “The Silent Anzac” at the Box Hill Town Hall on Saturday 28th April 2018 at 8pm.Also starring Margaret Haggart (Opera Australia, Scottish Opera) and Danielle Mathews (An Evening with Stephen Sondheim), the show depicts the events of WW1 from the opening of the Gallipoli campaign to the closing months of the war.
Nationals 2018
The 2018 Easter long weekend saw Melbourne host the Australian National Band Championships with 78 competing bands and over 3,400 players. The event was held at several venues with exceptional performance facilities and concert halls including the Methodist Ladies College and Xavier College in Kew. The competition was a fantastic event and our congratulations and thanks go to the Victorian Bands League and in particular, Megan Stapleton (VBL President and event organiser) and her dedicated group of volunteers who made the event a real joy.
The format of the competition includes the stage performance of a set test work and an own choice hymn on Friday, a street march event on Saturday and the performance of an own choice major work and a stage march played on Sunday. The championships for the Open section brass bands are divided into 4 graded sections with bands competing within the appropriate section for their abilities.
This year the Footscray-Yarraville City Band competed with two band ensembles including Western Brass (Musical Director Erin Ellenburg) in the Open C grade section and the Footscray-Yarraville City Band (Musical Director Phillipa Edwards) in the Open A Grade section.
Western Brass had a great weekend in their first ever Nationals campaign and placed 3rd overall in a very strong section of twelve competing bands.
Footscray-Yarraville City Band have had great results at the last two National Championship with a 3rd place overall in the 2016 competition in Adelaide and a 2nd place last year in Launceston. The 2018 Nationals saw a field of 15 A-Grade bands including bands from New Zealand and South Korea. While our band did not achieve a podium place in this year’s stage event we did place first for the music category on the street march event and an overall 3rd for the street march section. Special thanks to Steve Semmler-Farr for a terrific arrangement of Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop til you get enough!’ for our music selection on the march!
Hyde Street Youth Band (Musical Director Jeroen Bentcourt), and Hyde Street Youth Band Junior Band (Musical Director Phillipa Edwards) also had a very successful weekend, with the Junior Band placing 3rd in the Junior C Grade Section. HSYB had an incredibly busy weekend, competing in both the Open D Grade (7th place), and winning the Junior B Grade!
The National Championships are a very important part of the band’s primary goals of Musical and Performance Excellence, and also encouraging young people to become involved in music with the positive effect it has on them and our community. Footscray-Yarraville City Band has a strong development program and is also actively involved in mentoring and providing support for Western Brass and Hyde Street Youth Band, and we had a number of junior players involved in solo and ensemble sections of the competition.
The Footscray-Yarraville City Band, together with our second band Western Brass and the Hyde Street Youth Band have established a strong community banding precinct in Footscray that ensures that our shared bandroom facility is well utilised and provides vital arts and cultural opportunities for new players and the wider community. We are also very excited about the opportunities that the recently launched Footscray-Yarraville City Percussion Academy will provide to young people in the Western Suburbs and are very grateful for the leadership and commitment of Katie Thomas as the principal tutor. We look forward to seeing her students involved in future National Band Championships!
We are very grateful for the continued support of the Maribyrnong City Council and we proudly represent our vibrant community when we perform at these National competitions.
It is a real joy to share the stage with an amazing group of people and play music together. Its all about mateship, supporting each other and doing the best you can. The reward is being able to play music, connect with the audience and leaving something special.
Photo credit: Jacqui Schulz[envira-gallery id="933"]
2018 Rehearsal Camp
In early March FYCB returned to Wonthaggi for our annual rehearsal weekend as part of our Nationals preparation for 2018. (Thanks again Wonthaggi for the use of your wonderful band room!)There are two major components of this weekend for most of us, playing awesome music with a great group of people, and the all important beach time on Saturday afternoon. Nothing clears the head quite like diving into the beautiful Cape Paterson rock pool of too cold water and giggling with fellow bandies. We managed to coerce 8 people into the rock pool this year, which is up nearly 50% on last years effort!In 2019 let's try for half of the band - get ready, bring your togs, try not to freeze and love the hot shower afterwards! Enjoy some photos of our players in action during the weekend. 
FYCB Silent Anzac Tour
FYCB are thrilled to announce that we are heading overseas with our Silent Anzac Show!! For the first time since 1975, we will be heading to foreign shores – with performances and workshops planned for France, Belgium and the UK. We were thrilled to hold the launch of our Silent Anzac Tour last Thursday at the Maribyrnong Council Buildings. Special guests included the Mayor and Councillors of Maribyrnong, local business owners including Dimmeys, representatives from the Myer and Pratt Foundations, and other band and community supporters. We’ll be launching a special website very soon to share tour updates and information in the lead up to our November departure. We will also be holding a number of fundraising events with the first, a major fundraising performance at the Box Hill Town Hall on April 28th. Stay tuned for more details, and get your cheque books ready as we will soon be able to accept tax deductible donations to help get us to Europe! Many thanks to the following for a successful launch last Thursday: Maribyrnong Council, David Palmer, Margaret Brett, Lorraine Wright and John Hoppe, and finally our amazing band Secretary Colin Harrison, and MD Phillipa Edwards. Also huge thanks to the amazing performances from Danielle Matthews and Jamie Lawson. Here are some happy snaps from the evening, photo credit: Kevin Bergin 
Victorian State Champions 2017
Each year bands come from all over Victoria to compete in the State Brass Band Championships in Ballarat, and this year on August 19th Footscray Yarraville City Band competed for the prestigious title of State Champions. With a full program of Hymn, Test Piece, March and Entertainment Item, we performed at Her Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat, a beautiful old theatre with lovely acoustics. The highlight of the contest for the audience is arguably the feet warmers in the old theatre, which keep your toes warm after being outside in the Ballarat winter. The crowd favourite item was a salsa, which saw soloists Jamie Lawson, Brenton Burley, Nicole Tweddle and Emily Furlong entertain the crowd, accompanied by the band with nifty choreography as well as playing and singing. (The back row cornets in particular had all the moves…) Up against very stiff opposition, our entertaining style and beautiful hymn playing won the day, and FYCB were absolutely thrilled to win the title of State Champions in A grade! The band is very proud of our achievement, and especially the hard work and dedication from our conductor Phillipa Edwards. A big thank you to the Victorian Bands’ League for running and organizing the contest, we look forward to defending our title next year. 
Discovery of WW1 Bass Drum
Whilst doing a clean out of the bands’ storeroom in 2013, one of our members saw through all the clutter an old, battered bass drum with a torn head. Only when inspecting more closely did we realise the significance of this drum. On the inside of the drum, we discovered faint markings of soldiers who had served overseas with the 1st AIF during World War 1. Colin Harrison, one of FYCB's tuba players, began an extensive research project to learn the stories of these men and their families.Soldiers who wrote their names on the inside of the drum include:
- No 2133 Alexander McArthur Lambert, Killed in Action on 30th August 1917 (born Wallsend, enlisted Newcastle)
- No 3833 Ossory Arthur Charles Fitzpatrick (born North Sydney, enlisted Dubbo)
- No 2123 Edward Rees Harry (born near Broken Hill, enlisted Adelaide)
- No 3715 Robert Lynch (born Glasgow, Scotland, enlisted Brisbane)
- No 3307 Edward McCarter Brown (born Hamilton, Scotland, enlisted Sydney)
The men who wrote their names in the drum were all members of pioneer battalions which were generally employed on work such as road building, trenching and gun emplacements. The mens' inscriptions in the drum also give several place names, Fovant and Sutton Veny. These inscriptions indicate the drum was used in bands in the training camps near Salisbury Plain, England, where men were trained before being sent to the front in France and Belgium.Service records show that Alexander Lambert was at these training camps between August and November 1916 when he would have written the inscription below.
Lambert was born in born Wallsend and enlisted in Newcastle in the 1st Pioneer Battalion and embarked for England on 3rd May 1916. After a period of training in Sutton Veny, England, Lambert joined his unit “in the field” on 17 November 1916. He was killed in action on 30 November 1917 near Ypres, age 25. An eye witness recorded:“...[Lambert], with others, was building eighteen pounder dugouts when the Germans started shelling; he was running for shelter in another dugout when a shell landed close beside him and wounded him so severely that he died in 10 minutes.” Lambert is buried in the Reninghelst New Military Cemetery in West Vlaanderen, Belgium.The history of our country is embedded within the story of these men and our band’s heritage, which stretches back over a hundred years. We feel a special connection to all service men and women and we are proud to honour the sacrifice made.In the lead up to ANZAC day the band is preparing to commemorate the Australian service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country. The band will be playing at commemoration services at both the Footscray and Yarraville RSLs as well as participating in the march to the Shrine of Remembrance on ANZAC day.As part of the commemorations the band will be marching with the WW1 bass drum. The theme for the bass drum insert design (covering the skin) this year marks the centenary of Australians lost in France in 1916 in battles at Fromelles, Pozieres, Mouquet Farm and Flers.
As part of the band’s ANZAC Centenary Commemorations Project the band is committed to the preservation and public display of this drum and the research of the history of these men.The drum will be on public display later this year at the band’s Silent ANZAC concert on 12th November at Williamstown Town Hall. For further information contact the band at anzaccentenary@fycb.com.au
FYCB Celebrates a Great Result at Nationals
The Footscray-Yarraville City Band achieved an outstanding result at the Australian National Band Championships held over Easter this year in Gawler, South Australia. Competing against eight other bands in A Grade, Footscray-Yarraville took out third place overall against some very strong competition. The contest adjudicator made a special mention to our Musical Director, Phillipa Edwards, for the outstanding level of musical expression she was able to draw from the band.
“This achievement was the result of a lot of hard work and commitment by the band members in the lead up to the Championships” said Phillipa. “It cements Footscray’s position as one of the finest brass bands in Australia. We are looking forward to bringing this high level of musicianship to all our audiences at our public performances”.
The band prepared for the competition over a 10 week period with up to three rehearsals per week including a rehearsal weekend away in Wonthaggi. The test piece, Albion by Jan van der Roost, proved a massive challenge for all involved. This year we were particularly fortunate to have our own choice piece, The Maid of Orleans, written especially for the band by Todd Smith, a young and outstanding composer who is is garnering much critical acclaim both here and overseas. The performance of “The Maid of Orleans”, the world premiere of the piece, on the Sunday of the competition was the band's highlight for the weekend. We have already received enquiries from other bands looking to acquire The Maid of Orleans! Other highlights included the hymn Peace by Kenneth Downie which rated special mention by the adjudicator, and another successful "left of field" street march paying tribute to the late David Bowie with a special rendition of Let's Dance!
A big congratulations is owed to all bands, players, organisers and volunteers that made this Easter weekend another fantastic contest. On to Launceston in 2017! Go Scraggers!
Yamaha National Band Championships 2016 Street March
Footscray-Yarraville's special tribute to the late David Bowie. A one-of-a-kind musician. This march was arranged specially for this performance by our clever cymbal player. Enjoy!
The Maid of Orlèans
Below is a recording of the world premiere of Todd Smith's latest composition "The Maid of Orlèans". This was performed live on stage at the 2016 national band Championships in Gawler, South Australia. A big thanks to Todd for writing such a wonderful and challenging piece for us, and to the team at Brassbanned for bringing us the high quality sound and vision. Enjoy!