Festival of the Bands
After Westgate Concert Band withdrew from the Victorian Bands’ League in 1996, Musical Director Roy Hamilton was instrumental in establishing a new event for local concert bands in lieu of the competition circuit.
Geelong Concert Band managed the day’s events for the first nine years (1997 to 2005), hosting the event at Geelong Preparatory School. Westgate Concert Band then took over management for the next three years (2006-2008), holding the Festival at Westbourne Grammar School with the continued support of Geelong Concert Band (recording performances) as well as the Music Department of Westbourne.
Each band would present a 20-minute concert, receiving recorded commentary from our Critical Friend, who would then join us on stage for a brief workshop to help us improve on aspects of our performance. At the end of the day, all bands would come together to perform a couple of combined items for our audience.
“The Festival of the Bands began in 1997 after a number of bands ended their association with the Victorian Bands’ League. The Festival provided these bands with the opportunity to perform challenging symphonic wind music in front on their peers and receive feedback from a Critical Friend, in a non-competitive environment. The Festival is organised by a small committee drawn from the participating bands.”
Over the years, the Festival of the Bands was graced by many amazing Critical Friends including Roland Yeung (1998), Rob Wagner (2000), Graham Lloyd (2001), Joanne Heaton (2002), Warwick Cohen (2004), Jemima Bunn (2006), Simon Brown (2007) and Amy Wert (2008). Many other community and school bands were to take part during the Festival’s 12-year span such as Werribee Concert Band, Geelong Concert Youth, Senior and Big Bands, Melton Wind Symphony, Ballarat Memorial Concert Band, Springvale Bicentennial Youth Band, Werribee Junior Concert Band, Westbourne Symphonic Band and Hobsons Bay Concert Band.
In 2007, Westgate Concert Band presented a controversial program by introducing vocalists for our performance of the beautiful Contre Qui, Rose – a haunting piece filled with unresolved harmonies and a disappearing ending that Lauridsen says reflects the fading hope “of understanding the reasons for the rose’s thorny protection.” In stark contrast, we also featured Nitro by Frank Tichelli that year, described in the program notes as “an energy-charged three-minute fanfare for band”.
Interest in the Festival of the Bands gradually waned and Westgate Concert Band briefly moved to find their critical feedback through the Melbourne School Bands and Strings Festival held at Robert Blackwood Hall at Monash University… until Billy Hyde went into liquidation in 2012…
Roy Hamilton meanwhile was to be justly awarded a Victoria Excellence Award from the Australian Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association (ABODA) in 2002 and their Victorian Life Membership in 2016. These were reflective of not only his leadership of Westgate Concert Band, but also of his outstanding commitment to music and the community as demonstrated by his inspiration and dedication to events such as the Festival of the Bands.
“The intention is not to compare or rate the individual performances of bands but to celebrate and enjoy the music making of amateur, community ensembles in a non-competitive, festival setting”
