WARNERS BAY THEATRE
Conductor: Luke Bradbery
The Concert opened to about one hundred senior citizens with that very lively medley of six tunes from Broadway Musicals, Breezin’ Down Broadway. L-O-V-E, a song made popular by Nat King Cole in 1965, followed, adding a touch of romance. The audience next listened quietly as the melancholy and sometimes haunting tones of Aranjuez Mon Amour were captured by the soprano cornet, played by Julie Loveridge, in this brass band arrangement of Joaquin Rodrigo’s 1939 composition.
The Phantom of the Opera opened in London’s West End in 1986 and its music will continue to excite audiences for many years to come This medley of thirteen tunes, including Music of the Night and Masquerade, received prominent applause.
Then came the 1911 “ever green” composition by Katie Moss, The Floral Dance, which prompted some foot-tapping from the audience, while Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. a lament about love and loss, would have produced mixed emotions for them. Ticket to Ride, a John Lennon and Paul McCartney song followed. The first half concluded with one of T.J. Powell’s brass band marches, Castle Coch.
The audience enjoyed refreshments hosted by the band during interval to mark its 50th Anniversary.
When The Saints Go Marching In provided a lively introduction to the second half. The March Aces High, from the movie The Battle of Britain, followed. Then the jazz number Soul Bossa Nova, a 1962 Quincey Jones composition,
provided a contrasting style, with Murray Hetherington featuring on flugel horn. This number became very popular as the theme song for the movies of Austin Powers.
I’ll Walk With God, synonymous with the outstanding tenor voice of Mario Lanza, added a “touch of class”, as did You Raise Me Up/Danny Boy.
The 1980’s music of ABBA continues to be enjoyed throughout the world and it was no different for our audience as they listened to the medley of numbers in this ABBA Gold arrangement. Australian Barrie Gott’s “bright and breezy” composition Festival Arrangement Light-Walk continued the entertainment.
Procol Harum, an English Band, had a No1 hit with their first release in 1967; it was A Whiter Shade of Pale. CNL’s performance was well-received by the audience. The epic Australian poem by Banjo Paterson – The Man from Snowy River – was brought to life in this exciting brass band arrangement by Dr Barry Bignell, which concluded the program.
The audience were enthusiastic in their applause and were rewarded with an encore-Colonel Bogey.
Cardiff Brass acknowledges and thanks Lake Macquarie City Council for providing financial sponsorship, which assisted in staging this Concert. The music of brass bands continues to be “alive and well” in the City of Lake Macquarie.
Allan Shaw
Life member
Cardiff Brass
Cardiff Brass 
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