2024: Year in Review

Westgate Concert Band celebrated its 45th year in style. With two major concerts, plenty of community outreach events and honing our skills at the inaugural Western Bands Festival, it was a busy one! We were thrilled to welcome several new players, each growing the sound and strength of our ensemble, and award two 20 Years of Service awards at our Presentation Night.

Thank you, Fraser MP and the West Gate Neighbour Hood Fund!

Westgate Concert Band were honoured to be successful recipients of two grants in 2024. Thanks to the support of Dr Daniel Mulino, MP for Fraser, we received a 2023-24 Volunteer Grant. These funds will assist our volunteers who work tirelessly to keep our organisation running and allow us to send our Musical Director to the ABODA Summer Conducting School in January 2025. Meanwhile, the West Gate Neighbour Hood Fund and Katie Hall generously awarded us a Participation Equipment Grant that we are using to finally repair our poor timpani! Thank you both!

Formal Concerts

This year Westgate Concert Band delivered two grand formal concerts. Our first performance of the year was The Jig is Up! This toe-tapping evening took us through eras of danceable tunes from places near and far including Tango For Band, four gipsydances from Putza, strutting our stuff in Saturday Night Fever and spinning out with Havendance. We closed the year with our 45th Friendiversary Concert, welcoming back our vocalists and delivering a heartful program to celebrate the bonds that have kept us strong for all these years. We included arrangements from both of our founding musical directors, band favourites like Johan de Meij’s Hobbits and Wagner’s Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral, and plenty of Broadway hits. With speeches and trivia, the afternoon was alive with music and memories, topped off with a world premiere performance of a special commemorative work by composer and Friend of the Band, Matt Klohs: Of Lives, Loves and Legacies.

Next Generation Musicians

This year Westgate Concert Band teamed up with the Victorian Music Teachers Association to put on a Community Music Event in June. Through a child-friend repertoire, we introduced young people to the wonderful world of musical instruments, giving demonstrations and highlighting their strengths through example musical passages. It was great to expand our audience and reach out to the next generation of musicians. Westgate Concert Band were also excited to make some new friends at Sunshine College. Several of our members popped by to join in rehearsal with the students and show them how they can continue their musical journeys beyond school by joining community ensembles like ours.

Western Bands Festival

The old Festival of the Bands was reborn this year as the Western Bands Festival, spearheaded by Werribee Concert Band’s Musical Director, Harrison Merrifield. Westgate Concert Band joined four other bands from the West in a day that celebrated community music and muscians. We performed the challenging works Gollum (Johan de Meij) and First Suite in Eb (Gustav Holst) before gaining critical feedback from clinician Dr Rob McWilliams. Later, we joined in a mass-combined wind band led by Dr Joanne Heaton playing American Riversongs while our dual-allegiance Western Brass buddies worked on Castell Coch and With Thine Eyes with Dr Rob McWilliams. Many thanks to the Western Bands Festival committee for putting on the event (and for the photographs!) and we look forward to participating again.

Fundraising thanks!

Westgate Concert Band were delighted to visit Bunnings Sunshine, not once, not twice, but three times this year! This amazing store not only allowed us to fundraise with an invaluable sausage sizzle, but also gave us two opportunities to perform in store. It was Hammerbarn Time in February, and all our sections got a chance to show off in Bluey’s Instrument Parade. Westgate Concert Band would like to thank Bunnings Sunshine for their continued support of our organisation. We would also like to thank Grill’d Highpoint for supporting us through their Local Matters.

Assistant Musical Director

Westgate Concert Band were fortunate to recruit Michael Potts to the podium this year as our Assistant Musical Director. As a bass trombonist with the Air Force Band, Michael brought new perspectives and a new conducting style that helped us to grow as individual musicians and as an ensemble. Unfortunately, we can’t keep him as he moves onto bigger things, but we hope that he has enjoyed his time with Westgate and will still drop by from time to time.

Share with us!

Wish there were more photographs of your favourite band this year? We can only capture so many moments from behind our instruments so we’re asking for your help. We would love for you to share any of your photographs or videos of Westgate Concert Band’s events and performances with us. As our recent Anniversary celebrations attest to, these are invaluable to preserving our story and the people who make it, especially with a 50th to now prepare for! Contact us! Please note that by providing your photos to Westgate Concert Band, you also give permission for them to be used in future promotional or other media. Thank you!!

Until next year…

Westgate Concert Band would like to extend extra special thanks to our Musical Director, Elliott Westbury, for his fortitude in leading the band this year. We would also like to thank our Committee of Management for their constant efforts behind the scenes, our Friends of the Band who assist at our events and Braybrook College for their support. Plans for 2025 are already underway with some animated and epic concert themes in the works. We hope you will join us, but until then, Westgate Concert Band wishes everyone a wonderful festive season and a safe, healthy and happy New Year!