Easter Break
What a great start to the year we've had. Besides sinking our teeth into some major classics such as Carmina Burana and Ride of the Valkyries, our new purchases like Ruslan and Ludmilla, Orpheus in the Underworld and William Tell Overture are proving to be a big hit with audiences. Lawn bolws earlier in March went off with a bang, as did the lights at the Toowong Bowls Club. The first gig in the mall this year provided us with a chance to show off some of the fresh pieces and delight the crowd. Now that we have a week off, I'm nearly finished with an arrangement of Big Spender for QWAZZ to use if we can find the right type of singer for it. I hope the Easter Bunny is good to everyone, but try not to blow too much chocolate through your instruments.
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20th Anniversary Concert
What a great turnout we had for our 20th Anniversary Concert. The band performed well to an enthusiastic audience and by all accounts everyone enjoyed our programming. What a special event - Russell Gray on cornet, Graham Lloyd, our commissioned composer in attendance, and Malcolm Bell drumming and conducting up a storm! The additional radio coverage on 4MBS seems to have helped by getting a few more audience members along. That was Lara Campbell's last performance with us for a while as she is off on her overseas jaunt to America. We wish her well. Her solo in Irish Washerwoman is now up for grabs. Great work, everyone, on a fine performance. I'm looking forward to the next set of pieces for our Love and Death concert.
Tivoli, Piazza and Celebration
Congratulations to the band on two great performances at the Tivoli Theatre and the Suncorp Piazza. We had some excellent feedback from Red Radiology, who enjoyed our varied repertoire. They thought we were a simply "beautiful orchestra." The Brisbane City Council also expressed their thanks for our jazzier items, especially "In the Mood," since the dancers could show off their swing dancing. It was great to get a chance to play under the baton of Russell Gray once again.
I'm really looking forward to the Celebration concert now that Russell has agreed to play "The Carnival of Venice" with us accompanying him. Graham Lloyd will also be in attendance for the premiere of "Flight to Freedom," so it should be a real highlight of our year.
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Graham Lloyd's Inspiration for Flight to Freedom
In the late 1950s, a young Yugoslavian man named Michael was chosen out of some 600 budding pilots to undertake fighter training in the Yugoslav Air Force. He was training to become one of their 'top gun' pilots. Before graduating to flying jets (MIGs at the time, Yugoslavia was a Communist country allied with Russia) he and his classmates trained flying Russian-built YAK9s...then, one of the most advanced propeller driven planes in the world.
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Piazza performance
We have been asked to substitute "In the Mood" for "Selections from Chicago." Our set will now include St. Thomas, It's About Time, Caravan and In the Mood. I hope everyone is enjoying their two weeks off. I've been to the doctor and gotten anti-inflammatories for my sore shoulder, legs, and basically every other muscle in my body. I should be good as gold when I see everyone again next week.
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