The day’s events commenced at 10am with the parade of bands down Balhannah Road. We performed very well, gaining 90 points in drill and 82 points for music, placing third overall behind Unley Concert Band and K&N Spring Gully Brass. Our score for drill was the highest of all the bands and Phil Benger was named best drum major.

The entertainment contest, held in St. Michael’s Worship Centre for the first time, began at 11:30am. Our ‘Best of British’ programme comprised of The British Grenadiers, The Floral Dance, Hey Jude, The Lincolnshire Poacher and Bohemian Rhapsody, which featured vocals by our resident songstress Ashleigh Ellis. Adjudicator Steven Millar enjoyed the selection and awarded us 95 points and second place, just one point behind K&N Spring Gully Brass.

The complete results are as follows:

Best drum major Phil Benger, Enfield Brass

A stirring performance of Barrie Gott’s setting of David R. Holsinger’s On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss earned the band a perfect score (50 out of 50) from adjudicator Bill Broughton in the Hymn section. Enfield Brass continued its good form into the Test section, in which Kevin Houben’s The Lake of the Moon was the set work, and won first prize with an impressive 191 (out of 200) points!

For the second year in a row Enfield Brass took out the National C Grade marching championship as well as scoring the most points out of any band across all grades. Our own Phil Benger was awarded the prize for Champion Drum Major.

Enfield Brass wows the audience with a marching display (photo: Danniele Sikanen)

Listen to On A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss

Listen to The Lake of the Moon

President Justin Fidock got proceedings underway by reflecting on the busy year that was and looking forward to 2012, which is destined to be one of the most exciting in the band’s history. Not only will the band travel interstate for the first time since 1985, but it will move into a brand new hall!

Musical Director Mark Smith took on the task of choosing and presenting the band’s two annual awards: This year, the award for most improved went to cornetist Kimberly Sparks, a reliable and valued member of the back-row team.

The Ron Arthur Shield for Most Outstanding Bandsperson is a coveted prize in the band, and principal euphoniumist Jason Chatterton became only the the second person to win the award twice since its inception in 1986. Jason’s absolute commitment to the band – not only as a player, but also as treasurer and vice-president – has not gone unnoticed.

Kimberly Sparks and Jason Chatterton are presented their awards by MD Mark Smith

But the year isn’t quite over yet! The band is continuing its fundraising effort in aid of getting to Melbourne next Easter by cooking the barbeque and gift-wrapping at Bunnings Warehouse, Parafield on Christmas Eve. If you’re in the area, why not pop in for a browse and a quick bite?

Chloe, who was a first-time competitor at this year’s State Solo Championships, qualified for the Junior Brass division after winning the Junior E-flat Tuba Championship, scoring an impressive 94 points!

The Champion of Champions event, which will feature all State Championship winners, is to be held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor (Hindley Street, Adelaide) commencing at 2:15pm.

Musical Director Mark Smith will be representing K&N Spring Gully Brass, playing flugelhorn in the Senior Brass division.

The band wishes both entrants the very best of luck!

(Photo: Monique Calabro)

Enfield Brass will be performing twice at the event, which will run from 10am until 4pm.

So why not head to North Terrace and soak up some British art, music and culture!

This will be the first interstate contest the band has attended since 1985.

As a fundraiser, a concert will be presented on Saturday, 26 November at the Klemzig Band Hall, starting at 7:30pm. More details will be released in the coming weeks, so please keep checking back for updates!

First-time competitor Chloe Higgins won the Junior EEb Bass championship, scoring an impressive 94 points. The 18-year old also placed third in the Open EEb Bass section.

Shayne Tarling won the Open Percussion championship, scoring 85 points.

Full results can be found at SA Band Scene.

The band, led by champion Drum Major Phil Benger, scored an amazing 18 (out of 20) for inspection and 83 (out of 100) for drill – the highest of all bands, regardless of grade. In his acceptance, Benger paid tribute to the band’s commitment to preparation for the contest, and especially congratulated our three first-time marchers.

Our onstage performance saw us finish sixth in the Open C-grade Brass section. Musical Director Mark Smith was pleased with how the band played, particularly the own-choice major work, Edward Gregson’s Variations on ‘Laudate Dominum’.

Fellow SA band Mitcham City Brass placed third, whilst Hahndorf Town Band and Marion City Band finished seventh and ninth respectively. Full results are available here.

Enfield Brass on the street march (photo: Monique Calabro)

Musical Director Mark Smith has selected a challenging, but exciting program to compliment the set test, Kenneth Downie’s Purcell Variations; whilst Drum Major Phil Benger has been taking the band through rigorous drill exercises.

We will be presenting a joint concert with A-grade band K&N Spring Gully Brass on the evening of Tuesday 19 April at the Goodwood Institute (formerly Mayfair) Theatre. Commencing at 7:30pm, each band will perform for an hour, presenting its contest program.

Enfield Brass and Klemzig Junior Brass band 50th anniversary celebrations – Saturday 31 July 2010

This year Enfield Brass and Klemzig Junior Bands are turning 50.  This is quite an achievement for a volunteer organisation like ours.  Over the 50 years, the band room has seen hundreds of members, some of whom have become professional musicians.  We believe 50 years of valuable contribution to the community is worth celebrating.

We are holding a celebration event in the Klemzig Community Hall (the band hall), 7 OG Rd, Klemzig and would be delighted if as many ex band members and their familes were able to attend.

The event will consist of a memorabilia show from 5pm where people are encouraged to bring along photos, trophies, newspaper clippings, old uniforms/instruments etc. for display during the event.

From 6:30pm there will be time to drop in and catch up before the celebration event starts at 7pm.  Refreshments will be served during the evening.  All past Musical Directors are invited to lead the band in a musical number and all past players will also be invited to play with the current band.

We hope to see you there!