It has become a tradition for Campbelltown Band to dedicate at least one concert each year to raising funds for charitable organisations. Earlier this year we supported the Red Shield Appeal and recently we joined with Brilliant Brass and the St Ignatius Stage Band in their magnificent Music and Drama Centre to support Motor Neuron Disease South Australia.
The association provides dedicated support to people living with MND, an incurable and progressive neurological disease. The aim is to help fund research and improve care and support for those who have been diagnosed with this life-changing condition.
Campbelltown opened the afternoon with the fanfare Summon the Dragon, featuring trombones and cornets. A medley of well-known Disney tunes was followed by what seems to have become an obligatory (but popular) Eurovision Song Contest winner – this time Hard Rock Hallelujah. Our other contributions to the afternoon’s entertainment were the evocative theme from Out of Africa, Fly Me to the Moon and At the Sign of the Swinging Cymbal.
St Ignatius Stage Band seems to consist of one talented soloist after another. We would love to have you join us on Wednesday evenings!
And finally, the virtuosic performance of Brilliant Brass, led by Bruce Raymond OAM, left us in no doubt that they are indeed made up of the top brass players in S.A., if not the whole of Australia.
How do you complete an afternoon like that? You somehow manage to fit all three bands on to the stage, playing Raiders of the Lost Ark, Smile, Superman, and Everybody Needs Somebody. Three different conductors directed us – consecutively rather than concurrently, fortunately.
Thanks, as usual, to all our helpers, especially Sue Smith our compere, BJ O’Donovan, Peter Doherty and St Ignatius MD, Stephen Millar (who led one band and played in two others). And thanks to our audience who raised over three thousand dollars for a worthy cause. Let’s “Never Give Up” until we have a solution to these pernicious diseases.
