Percussion Learners' Group Hits NSBA

A modern brass band always has need of able percussionists to help give rhythmic shape and colour to the band's performances; the band gets a huge lift from the force and excitement an on-form percussion team brings to the band's sound. North Shore Brass Academy have added a Percussion learners' group, with tutoring provided by experienced music teacher Kathy Clark. Lessons take place at 5pm Wednesdays in our bandroom — all ages welcome. See Wayne's details below to register your interest, or come along 5pm this Wednesday prepared to make an impact! With some experience, you might also want to stick around for the Academy Band rehearsal immediately following, from 6-7.30pm.

NSBA Orewa Playout a Success


The North Shore Brass Academy takes the stage at the Orewa Beach Boulevard Arts Fiesta & Market Day on Saturday 14 February, kicking off the afternoon's entertainment schedule for an appreciative crowd.

Great Start to 2015

The North Shore Brass Academy is back in full swing for 2015. Current and new learners young or old are welcome to come along. Learner instruction and rehearsals of the NSBA take place every Wednesday evening from 6pm — come a few minutes earlier to ask about our programme and instrument issue.
The Academy Band has an exciting year ahead with concerts, competitions and other engagements already on the calendar!
Individual lessons are available — ask Wayne for details. Our resident tutors include Colin Clark, the musical director of North Shore Brass, and Nicholas Bodkin, cornet player also in the North Shore Brass. Any questions contact the Academy Band Manager Wayne on email nsbacademy@yahoo.co.nz.

The band has a new management team in place that plans to develop the band further. The Academy Team (A-team) consists of:

Owen Melhuish (Bass) — President
Trevor Clark — Music Director
Wayne Coddington (Euphonium) — Band Manager / Librarian
Dave Benett (trombone) — Event Manager
Rachel Sullivan (Cornet) — Co-organiser
Colin Clark (Senior MD) — Advisor
John Sullivan — Advisor

After our successful Christmas concert in the Gulf Harbour rotunda on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, we are preparing ourselves for our next playout at the Arts Fiesta in Orewa, Saturday 14th February at 12.30pm. On May 17th we will be attending Matamata Brass Festival of Music and hoping to build on our Silver Award from 2013.
This year we also have the ABA local contests in sight. Our goal is to enter the bands event as a new D-Grade Brass Band registered to the Auckland Bands Association. We're very excited about the upcoming year and invite you to come be a part of it. Contact Wayne on the email address above, or phone him on 021 0841 5370.
If you're active on Facebook, Like our page North Shore Brass Academy to keep up with the latest photos and announcements.

Nick Walkley to Hold Workshop for North Shore Brass Academy

North Shore Brass Academy and North Shore Brass are pleased and honoured to bring cornet star Nick Walkley to our bandroom in a free workshop, thanks to support by Creative Communities. He will be conducting a special workshop for brass players of all ages and skill levels on Wednesday 16 July, in our bandrooms on Taharoto Road. You can register for this exciting workshop by contacting us.

Nick Walkley - An Extended Biography

A product of the Northern brass band scene, Nick abandoned a career as an Architect to chase a dream of becoming a professional trumpet player. He currently holds the position of Principal Cornet with the Welsh Guards Band whilst also studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
At only 19 years he became principal cornet of the Williams Fairey band from Stockport. Up until then, teenage years had been well spent under the direction of Elgar Howarth in the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain where he finished as co-principal cornet. Spells playing both Principal and Soprano Cornet at other famous bands followed in later years, including Yorkshire Building Society, Leyland and Cory. Despite this early dedication to music, he achieved all of this whilst studying Architecture at Manchester University.
Music eventually won out as preferred career choice when he joined the British Army as a musician when aged 25. During training at Kneller Hall he was awarded both the Cassell and Cousin's prizes for the best overall instrumentalist/musician to graduate that year before taking up post in the Irish Guards Band, retracing the footsteps of his father and trombonist Steve who had served in the same band decades before.
With the Guards, regular duties included taking part in Changing of the Guard ceremonies, as well as Trooping the Colour, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. He was particularly proud to be at Windsor Castle to be involved in a historic first State Visit by a President of the Republic of Ireland. As part of the same occasion he performed with a brass ensemble as part of a special unique concert called 'Ceiliúradh' at the Royal Albert Hall. Only months before this he was requested to accompany the British Prime Minister as a solo bugler to join the Taoiseach, his Irish counterpart, in laying wreaths for Irish soldiers killed fighting for the British Army in WW1. This took place at battlefield sites around Ypres, Belgium, culminating in a special performance of the Last Post at the Menin Gate.
In April 2014 he took up the position of Principal Cornet with the Welsh Guards band, becoming section leader and taking on the responsibility of featuring regularly as a soloist on the forecourts of London's Palaces. He has also performed his own solo recital in uniform at the Guards Chapel.
Prior to this, Nick was undertaking full time Postgraduate Study at the Royal Academy of Music whilst also continuing full time duties with the band. His teachers at RAM were Mark David, Paul Beniston, Will O'Sullivan, and Bob Farley, also studying Baroque Trumpet with John Hutchins. During his two years there he made his first ventures into orchestral trumpet playing, performing major symphonic repertoire under Thierry Fischer, Martyn Brabbins, Edward Gardner, and reuniting with Elgar Howarth for Symphonic Brass ensembles.
As a soloist, his career has taken him as far as India where he was invited to perform with the South West Festival Chorus in Handel's 'Messiah'. In Goa this was performed possibly for the first time ever in its entirety in the region, and for the first time in over 40 years in Mumbai. He has also featured as a soloist in Dublin Cathedral alongside soprano Claudia Boyle as part of the inaugural Dublin Brass Week.
Nick is the founder and director of the brass ensemble project 'Æðelfrìth', for which he also composes and arranges music. The ensemble is made up of young professional musicians in and around London, performing music of various ensemble combinations with a Celtic/Nordic/Anglo theme. As a brass quintet, they were 2013 winners of the Worshipful Company of Musicians Brass Ensemble prize; they were invited to give various recital performances around the UK, which included an unveiling of the Dectet format in a recital at St Martin in the Fields in London. Future projects will hope to include new commissions for brass ensemble and innovative recording projects.
Away from the trumpet, Nick searches for respite amongst the British countryside. He is a keen mountain bike enthusiast, hoping to complete a first coast to coast route in the near future. He also enjoys sailing and hill-walking, and other opportunities to chase horizons as a means of escaping busy city life.

North Shore Brass Academy win Silver in Matamata

Congratulations to Robert Simpson and his Academy band players on gaining a Silver Award at the Matamata Brass Festival of Music! This long-standing festival, held on 19 May this year, features brass, concert, and symphonic bands each playing a 30-minute entertainment programme. Excellent results for their debut performance.

North Shore Brass Academy a part of Anzac salute concert

Members of the North Shore Brass Academy were on hand to help North Shore Brass at their recent Anzac Salute concert in the Bruce Mason Centre on 25 April. "We were able to provide back stage crew, stage dressing, front of house staff and cast members for the concert," says Band Manager, Sarah Arnel. "Adding these elements to the concert made it a more theatrical experience for the audience, and let the A grade band concentrate on the playing."
Sarah says that even though the members of the Academy Band weren't playing, they were gaining valuable experience working on an event of such a high standard.
"What we did for the Anzac Day concert has given our players a chance to see what it takes for a great band like North Shore Brass to deliver a great concert." You can see photographs of the concert on our Facebook page in the coming weeks.

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