Advent Brass: 100 Year Celebration Charity Concert

Advent Brass Band was founded in 1925 and this special event celebrated 100 years of activity. This is an organisation that reaches out to young people through Christian beliefs and practice and employs brass band music in this enterprise. The success of the band was consolidated in this illustrious gala event and provided an opportunity to showcase the many excellent musicians who operate in its orbit. Celebrating a 100-year history is indeed a very admirable milestone and the performance celebrated this by bringing its community together and providing some sterling entertainment.

The gala featured renowned jazz virtuoso James Morrison as well as his son William. Morrison provided some great commentary between the numbers. This was to the great amusement of the audience and Morrison clearly knew how to impart amusing anecdotes to warm their hearts. Other leading and talented artists such as vocalists Walter Saluni, Helena McKee and Tim Jaques also contributed to the high-quality program. 

The extremely generous program covered a range of genres and engaged with popular culture by performing pieces from world famous films and television programs. The extremely recognisable and familiar nature of the music made it a very accessible and appealing program for all ages. This was particularly important given that between past and present band members the age range is between 9 and 100 years! In fact, one of the highlights of the evening was centenarian Romney King’s piano performance of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata 2nd Movement. This was preceded by a delightful, pre-recorded interview with King who explained his long-standing connection to Advent Brass and the way it has impacted his life so positively. This gave a very clear example of the great cultural and emotional value the band has in the lives of all its members. Other highlights of the program included All I Ask of You (Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera) performed by Helena McKee & Tim Jaques and George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm featuring James Morrison and the Advent Brass Trumpets. Throughout the evening Morrison did not hesitate to demonstrate his extraordinary and mesmerising talent, and his incredible musicianship was beautifully embraced by the band.

Advent Brass is much more than a band, it is a strong community that is entirely dedicated to nurturing musical talent. This occasion was very much an event that was in the vein of a very special family reunion but on a very grand and distinguished scale.

Patricia Di Risio