The Silent ANZAC Remembrance Day Performance
Footscray-Yarraville City Band is extremely excited to announce we are performing our self produced show commemorating those who served in WWI, The Silent ANZAC, at Exhibition Hall at Australia house in London on the 11th November 2018.This coincides with the 100th anniversary of Armistice, and will be a truly special occasion not to be missed. More information can be found here, and tickets can be purchased here. Be sure to secure tickets as soon as possible, as a sellout crowd is anticipated.
FYCB to Perform with Durham University Brass Band
We are pleased to announce that we will be performing with the Durham University Brass Band on the 15th November 2018. The Durham University Brass Band is a vibrant society committed to showing the university the meaning of banding! Based in the university’s music department, the band rehearses weekly and puts on regular concerts, perform for a variety of events and also participate in a national brass band competition.
The Silent Anzac Show Line Up Announced
Margaret Haggart, “The Mother”
Margaret studied singing with Antonio Moretti-Pananti. In 1972 her professional career began in the UK, with Welsh National Opera, singing Queen of Night & Gilda (Rigoletto). Principal roles followed with ENO, Scottish Opera North, English Music Theatre, R.Albert Hall Prom Concerts & BBC Radio & TV. She performed with Nancy Opera & the Orange Festival in France, and Santiago Opera in Chile. Home in Melbourne from 1984, she appeared with VSO, all State Companies, Opera Australia, most major Festivals, most Symphony Orchestras, and ABC simulcasts locally, and worked in NZ., Italy, Singapore & USA.Danielle Matthews, “The Girl”
Danielle is an actor/singer/songwriter who studied Music Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts and is the inaugural winner of The Rob Guest Endowment Award. She has worked in shows and concerts throughout Australia and across the world including – An Evening with Stephen Sondheim, Respect the Musical (Australia Tour), Big Band Beat (Tokyo Disney), Another Opening Another Show (Manilla St Productions), Ship of Fools (Gary Young), TRIBE (Anthony Crowley) Twisted Broadway, Light the Night, Hats Off, Musical Melodies, Carols by Candlelight, Morning Melodies, Sing for a Cure and The Helpmann awards, just to name a few. Danielle has performed live on Good Morning Australia, Mornings with Kerri Anne, It Takes Two. Danielle has spent the past three years performing with acclaimed opera singer and TV personality Dr Jonathan Welch AM (Choir of Hard Knocks).
Joe Stanley, “The Soldier”
Joe attained a BA/Music at NMIT 2001-2004. He has performed in blues, rock and metal bands around Australia and Europe and has also appeared on TV in Australia, the UK and the US, including Neighbours, Something in the Air, Russell Gilbert Show, Comedy Sketch series, The Line. During 2008 Joe lived and worked in the UK and France, and returned to Australia in time for summer with a new love of singing. He is currently working on several music projects, vocalist for two heavy rock/metal bands , Pegazus and British Steel and guitarist/vocalist for heavy metal band Turret.
Phillipa Edwards, Musical Director
Phillipa studied trumpet at the Victorian College of the Arts and has studied under brass luminaries, Gordon Webb, Mark Summerbell and Rob Smithies. She studied conducting with Professor David King and Steve Bastable (UK) as well as Dr Barry Bignell and Brett Kelly (MSO). Her experience as a conductor is both extensive and varied and she has worked all over Australia with Concert, Stage and Brass bands, Symphony Orchestras, Choirs and small ensembles. Phillipa is a regular conductor with Melbourne Youth Music and has also worked with Dr Johnathon Welch OAM and his Choir of Hard Knocks Foundation. Phillipa was awarded the 2007 “Musical Director of the Year” by the Victorian Band’s League.
Jamie Lawson, Principal Cornet
Jamie has been a member of the Footscray-Yarraville City Band for over 20 years holding the band’s principal chair for 19 years. In that time he has held a position in the Royal Australian Navy band and worked extensively as a freelance musician appearing on stage and in commercial recordings playing trumpet, flugelhorn and cornet. His busy performance schedule sees him regularly travel to perform as a guest artist both throughout Australia and New Zealand, is the events coordinator and performer with National Australia Brass and is a keen educator and conductor. Jamie is four times Victorian cornet champion and, in 2011, was invited to perform at the ‘Ern Kellar’ International Soloist of the Year in Sydney.Jamie currently teaches trumpet, horn and ensembles at St Kevin’s College and holds a Bachelor of Performance (Salford University UK and Melbourne University), a graduate diploma of Secondary Teaching (University of New England) and is a ‘Geneva Instruments’ performance artist.
Box Hill North Primary School to Launch Silent Anzac Project
Silent Anzac project partners Box Hill North Primary School will be launching their own Silent Anzac project to commemorate our service men and women and to mark 100 years since the end of WW1. Students are invited to make a poppy and dedicate it to a WW1 service man or woman. These poppies will be laid at the Australian National Memorial, Villers Bretonneux, France, by the band in November 2018 as part of the official Armistice Centenary events. This ceremony will be live streamed and recorded for viewing by the school students. The students are also invited to research their chosen service man or women utilising online resources to search for WW1 soldiers who lived in their street and to review their service records. Students may also wish to dedicate their poppy to a great grandparent or great great uncle who served in WW1.The students will have an opportunity to display their poppies and other WW1 related project work to the general public at the band’s performance of The Silent Anzac show at the Whitehorse Centre, Nunawading, on 30th September. The poppies and wreaths will be officially handed over to the band at a Remembrance service at school assembly on 26th October.This project provides the opportunity for the students to have a personal involvement in the commemoration of our service men and women and
to mark the centenary of Armistice of WW1. If your school would like to be involved in the Silent Anzac project then please contact Colin Harrison of the Footscray-Yarraville City Band at secretary@fycb.com.au.
Online resources
The AIF Project (search for WW1 soldiers by address): https://aif.adfa.edu.au/aif/National Archives of Australia (search for service records of WW1 soldiers):https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx
FYCB launches GoFundMe campaign for European Tour
https://www.gofundme.com/the-039silent-anzac039-european-fundThe Footscray-Yarraville City Band is travelling to Europe in this November to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice of World War 1.With this in mind, today we launch the band’s fundraising appeal. This is an opportunity for our family, friends and the greater Australian and New Zealand community to be involved in this once in a lifetime event.The trip is almost entirely funded by the members of the band. This campaign will cover the costs of transporting our WW1 bass drum back to Europe, cover the costs of our solo artists, pay for venue and rehearsal hire whilst we're away and facilitate other performance-related expenses.Performances of our critically acclaimed show, 'The Silent ANZAC', will be the cornerstone of the tour with performances at Amiens Cathedral, Australia House, and Southwark Cathedral. The Silent ANZAC intertwines the story of the Australian submarine, the AE2, with other stories of love and loss from The Great War.We will also be performing at the ‘Last Post Ceremony’ at Menin Gate, which will be live-streamed back to Australia.A wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux. The band will play Abide with Me and The Last Post whilst wreaths are laid. If you, your family or workplace wish to have a wreath laid on your behalf please click here, or contact Lorraine Wright, our Fundraising Coordinator, on 9578 3113 or 0415 138 148. This ceremony will be live-streamed back to Australia and posted to the internet for later viewing.
The Silent ANZAC European Tour Fundraising Launch
The Footscray-Yarraville City Band - with the assistance and support of Victorian High Commissioner, Ken Ryan AM and James Hancock of the Tait Foundation - will be travelling to Europe in November to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice.
With this in mind, today we launch the band's fundraising appeal. This is an opportunity for our family, friends and the greater Australian and New Zealand community to be involved in this once in a lifetime event.
Performances of our critically acclaimed show, The Silent ANZAC will be the cornerstone of the tour with performances at Amiens Cathedral, Australia House, and Southwark Cathedral. The Silent ANZAC intertwines tells the story of the Australian submarine, The AE2 with other stories of love and loss from The Great War.
We will also be performing at the ‘Last Post Ceremony’ at Menin Gate which will be live-streamed back to Australia.
A wreath laying ceremony will be held at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux. The band will play Abide with Me and The Last Post whilst wreaths are laid. If you, your family or workplace wish to have a wreath laid on your behalf please contact Lorraine Wright, our Fundraising Coordinator, on 9578 3113 or 0415 138 148. This ceremony will be live-streamed back to Australia and posted to the internet for later viewing.
Our new CD, The Endless Silence, tells The Silent ANZAC story, featuring William McInnes as the Poet, Margaret Haggart as the Mother, Danielle Matthews as the Girl, Joe Stanley as the Soldier and Jamie Lawson as the Bandsman. It is available through our website for $20 plus $5 p/h.
Next week will see our Crowdfunding kick off with a campaign to pay for our WWI bass drum and four soloists to travel to Europe for the tour.
Tax deductible donations toward the band can be made through the VBL ROCO account (put "Footscray Yarraville City Band" in the recipient's description):
Account Name: Victorian Bands League Inc Public Account
BSB: 013-481
Account Number: 2527-64584
Smaller donations can be made by clicking the donate button at the bottom of the page.
You can also support the band by attending our show The Silent ANZAC.
It's such a fantastic time to be a part of this wonderful band and we really hope you'll join us on this once in a century opportunity.
The Silent Anzac to be performed at Exhibition Hall, Australia House, London
We are currently arranging with officials in London to put on a performance of The Silent Anzac at Australia House on Remembrance Day, 11/11/18. This performance will take place in the famous Exhibition Hall which was used for the set of the Gringotts Bank in the Harry Potter movies. The 160 foot hall is decorated with 1200 tons of intricately patterned Australia Marble. Mr Ken Ryan AM, Agent-General for Victoria to the UK, is supporting the band in this endeavour and we are also receiving assistance from Ms Claire Thomas, Business Manager for Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Victorian State Government, in making arrangements for the concert. It is fantastic that the Silent Anzac tour is receiving this kind of support and we would like to acknowledge and thank these people.
Lions Club Project Partners
We are pleased to announce that the Lions Club has come on board as Silent Anzac project partners with a generous donation of $2,000. Many thanks to the Lions Club and also to our Fundraising Coordinator Lorraine Wright whose diligent work is paying dividends for the project. Our fundraising goal of $50k is achievable with the support of everyone. Be sure to get involved. A new social media fundraising campaign is set to be announced soon so get ready to spread the word.
Become a part of The Silent ANZAC Project
Footscray-Yarraville City Band is looking for enthusiastic friends of the band to be involved this important project. We are looking for assistance in all areas such as:• Publicity and marketing• Sponsorship• Fundraising• Project management• Administration• Graphic design• Logistics• Social media management• Tour management• Business Development• Sales• Client Relationship Management• International Relations• Travel arrangements, visa requirementsYou don’t have to be an expert in any of these areas, just have an interest and willingness to get involved. No one will be refused and time commitment is up to you. Indicate your interest by emailing contact@fycb.com.au with your area of interest and any specific skills you think may be relevant.
The Silent ANZAC production a huge success at Box Hill Town Hall
For the third time, The Silent ANZAC production was performed by Footscray-Yarraville City Band at the Box Hill Town Hall on Saturday 28th April. A near capacity audience experienced the untold stories of war told through music and poetry. The concert was hailed a great success, with the evening concluding with a rapturous standing ovation.A special thanks to our guest artists William McInnes, Margaret Haggart, Danielle Matthews and Joe Stanley as well as our Musical Director Phillipa Edwards. Also a special mention to our Principal Cornet Jamie Lawson whose superb solo playing put the icing on the cake. Special guests in attendance at the show were Cr Andrew Davenport (Mayor of Whitehorse), Cr Prue Cutts, Lyn Thurnham of the Catfish Foundation, Simon Abney-Hastings (Earl of Loudoun) and Graham Gibson, Secretary Rats of Tobruk Association.Footscray-Yarraville City Band is working with various organisations to put on the show again in Melbourne before taking it to Europe in early November.