Wodonga Brass wins Open D Grade at 2022 Victorian State Band Championships

Led by musical director Fenella O'Sullivan, the group won the Open D Grade Brass section of the 2022 Victorian State Band Championships in Ballarat.

Not only the first competition post-pandemic, it was Wodonga Brass' first entry for about 10 years and O'Sullivan's debut conducting competitively.

"The band put in so much work," she said.

"I asked a lot of them week in, week out, and we've put in a lot of extra hours over the past few months to get ready to go and represent the band on stage.

"So to have that recognised by the adjudicator on the day is absolutely fantastic."

Wodonga Brass took out three of the four sections, leading the hymn, major work and march categories and placing second in the own choice.

In the aggregate, the Border band scored 205 points, ahead of Eaglehawk Citizens' Brass Band (200), Boroondara Harmony Brass (196) and Hyde Street Youth Band and Croydon Citizens' Band (both 189).

IN OTHER NEWS:

Treasurer and musician Lindsay Hanchett said the band had entered the competition to see how it compared to other bands.

"It's a good exercise, gives you something to focus on and a bit of a challenge," he said.

"At least we can assure people, well, we know where we stand, we are a good band.

"A lot of it stems from the enthusiasm of your musical director."

O'Sullivan said the judging element "can definitely add nerves" but the musicians managed well.

"We talked about it a lot beforehand, about how to handle our nerves on the stage and ways to combat it and to be able to work through them and I feel like everyone took that on board," she said.

Wodonga Brass will compete in Traralgon in a few weeks, both in D and C grades as a test, with the longer-term goal to move up into the higher grade.

The group plans to hold a Border concert in October to display its repertoire before focusing on the annual Wodonga Carols by Candlelight.

O'Sullivan said the musicians were excited to represent Wodonga in the state bands competition.

"It was a good opportunity to remind them that we're there," she said.

"We might be further away than a lot of other bands but we're still working hard and we're coming out of COVID stronger than we were beforehand."

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: