In August 2006 Nick Sharpe arrived in New Zealand in conjunction with the Nelson City Brass Band to create the Nelson Brass Academy, a music school offering affordable brass lessons to anyone wanting to learn a brass instrument. There are now over 110 brass students associated with the Academy, with Academy pupils located as far away as LakeRotoiti in the Nelson Lakes.

There are 3 ensembles in the Nelson Brass Academy, the Junior Brass Band, which pupils are eligible to join after only 5 lessons, the Yourh Brass Band for those who have been playing around 3 years, and a satellite ensemble based in St Arnaud, known as the Rotoiti Band, which has a broad range of abilities.


Every year, all bands perform in a variety of different settings, giving one formal concert per term and also less formal performances in the Nelson area. A very popular event is the Junior Brass Band schools tour where, on the last Tuesday of November every year, the band performs to three Primary schools in the region in one day.

Band Camp 2010!

The 4th Top of the South/ West Coast Brass Band Camp was recently held in Teapot Valley. Players of all ages came together to play in the Junior and Intermediate bands and generally have a good time. The extensive rehersals meant that there wasn't a lot of free time so leisure cut into sleeping hours meaning there were many weary players in the morning rehersals and in some instances certain people were playing pieces that were different to the rest of the band(though at least nobody fell asleep during rehersal this year!).
The pieces were all excellent and we were able to play them to the best we could thanks to sectionals taken by very good tutors and the bands were well conducted by Mike (Junior Band) and Nick and Mick (Intermediate Band).
The concert came together wonderfully with the Junior Band's performance of When The Saints Come Marching In, proving a crowd pleaser. The Intermediate band playing To The Sky was also very impressive.

Nick Somerville

Term 3 newsletter

Dear Academy Member,
Welcome back!

First of all congratulations to the Nelson Vivace Youth Brass Band for a very successful tour of the South Island culminating in a win at the National Brass Band Competition in Dunedin. They were a credit to Nelson in the way that they performed and behaved throughout the week.

This term we have band camp (Sep 10th-12th – is your form in yet?!) and the Youth band will be performing at the Nelson Performing Arts Competitions at 10.45 on Sunday 15th August at the School of Music (please be there half an hour before in uniforms Youth band)

The Nelson Brass Academy blog is now up and running at http://nelsonbrassacademy.blogspot.com .
All notices will now appear on the blog as well as in paper and email form, and also the odd article from band members!

Next term will be busy with appearances at Red Square, Hope Hall, the Junior Band tour, and the end of year concert.

Also, early next term Nelson is very lucky to have the National Secondary Schools Brass Band in town for a residential course and some concerts – watch this space!

Notes from the Brian Chin masterclass

Here are my notes from the Trumpet master class session

How to play efficiently:

dont push too hard, if you are finding it too difficult to play back off

try to get a clean sound (- sort of ringing )

on each note go sharp and flat and then try to go in the middle to see which sounds best

tongue placement - try to get a small space in your mouth, make an eww sound

if you are playing fast keep your fingertips on top of the keys

make it as easy as possible for yourself

learn to love your instruments, enjoy practicing!

Sophie Price

Adjudicator's comments

All recovered?
Adjudicators comments below:
Jupiter (D Grade perf) - Band moves well together, note values well observed, except last pause. 1, 2, hold. Always search for tuning - so every note is centred. It is a lifelong quest but well worth it. Can you sing your parts in tune? Thank you.
Dream Catchers (D Grade perf) - An interesting choice. Demanding on soloists, who all did very well indeed. Try and shorten up syncopation figures, seperate would be a better term to give greater clarity to them. A solid performance. Well prepared, well directed. Thank you.
Liberty Bell (D Grade perf) - Played with much pulse, energy and commitment. keep the 6/8 pulse always going, avoid going into 3/8. Keep it strong weak, strong weak, [leading to] greater flow and less ponderous. Listen to 87 and 88, the rests disappear and you begin to accel! Thanks for a well prepared, interesting programme full of vitality, enthusiasm and lots of musical potential. Thank you.
Jupiter (Youth perf) - Well done, tough ask to repeat your programme but seems more confident this time. Well done. Thank you.
Dream Catchers (Youth perf) - Well done again. Great work soloists. Tough ask *2!!! Some of the scalic passages didn't work as well this time. Work on more seperation of syncopatic figures. Take great care at fff that sound is always nice and full. Give lips room. One of the highlights of the contest, Thanks
Liberty Bell (Youth perf) - Great to see you all out in the open! Same comments as last time. All the very best for your musical futures. So many good things lie ahead for you all. Well done, Nick!
Thanks all.



Well done team!

Final Day

Well, the final day began with a very early morning with us having the coach packed by 7.30, eventually hitting the road at 8.30. Thirty minutes in and the Potterthon began, all of the Harry Potter films back to back over the journey!
Morning tea was spent at the lovely Timaru Botanical Gardens, and the band (who I felt were beginning to look a little tired) at lunch at the Hornby Mall. A few more Harry Potters later, we pulled into Murchison, having dropped off some band members en route. A quick dinner and we were finally on the last leg, arriving at the bandroom around 10.15.
Thank yous must go to all of my parent helpers on the tour, Albert the coach driver, Julie for her fund raising skills, and Peter for pulling the trip together. It was a fantastic trip that will live long in the memory.
I'd also like to thank my team leaders for the tour: Chocolateer McQuinn, Augustus Deans, Karate Kid Giddall, Howlin Mad Melon Burton, Hopalong Clark, and Too Cool For Sleep Robinson - great job!
Keep an eye on the blog for our adjudicator comments and Mike's take on it all....

Day 5

Day 5 saw the band get up, rehearse, and then have an easy day leading up to the contest. The rehearsal was quite eventful as the band had some players sit out due to the various rules and regs. The first half saw Olivia, Tom and Paddy sit out, with Paddy and Tom giving an American Idol feedback to the bands performance of Dream Catchers (Tom 'Rubbish', Paddy 'I think it was lacking a little something in the horn section, or maybe someone...'), then the adults had a rest whole the youth band performed.
Rehearsal over, we then took a trip up Signal Hill (apologies if spelt wrong) where the girls got in touch with their spiritual sides joining in a dance session with a tour group (wait till you see the video) and then ate lunch at the Botanical Gardens, followed by a walk round the aviary. Andrew Leighs and Paddy hit it off well with a parrot, with Paddy successfully managing to get a conversation out of it.
The band then went back to the hostel for a rest before setting off for the contest.
On arrival at the venue the band warmed up, and took to the stage giving a great rendition of the pieces, Jupiter, Liberty Bell, and Dream Catchers to a very appreciative audience in the D Grade. After a short break, they then did the very same pieces all over again in the Youth contest. It is hard to say how proud I felt of the band at this point, they delivered two fantastic performances and, win or lose, we gained a lot of new fans.
At the results ceremony, adjudicator David Gallagher was evidently very impressed and excited by what he had heard from us (written comments to come in a later post),the band came last, but certainly not least, in the D Grade, with the winning conductor (Roxburgh band)full of praise for our band when he accepted his trophy. We won the Youth section, winning a huge trophy, with Fenella winning a trophy for best youth soloist (well done Fenella!). After many photos, we got on the bus, sang all the way back to the hostel, and arrived to find 30 pizzas waiting for us, which we attacked savagely.
The band then settled down into party mode for the rest of the night.
Well done team!

The Finale

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Signal Hill

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Day 4 further post

Another fab day for the Vivace Youth Brass, starting with a concert at the Museum at 9.30 (or was it 10.30?), the band then got some free time at the Museum of Otago and whiled away many happy minutes in the science alive exhibit experimenting with the competitive brainwave game machine (to win you had to empty your head, I'll let all of you readers come to your own conclusions..) and the butterfly house. I actually got the feeling that an awful lot of the band would have quite happily have sat in the butterfly house all day.
Following this, with the street march being cancelled, the band were quickly booked for another performance at the museum at half one, this time with New Zealand Champion of Champions, Invitational Slow Melody champion, Euphonium champion, and all round nice guy Riki McDonnell. Riki is also the bands sponsor for the competition and owns the instrument manufacturers Vivace. The band certainly gave him a flavour of what we're all about!
The band then headed straight to the Cadbury Factory for a tour and lots of free chocolate. It was fascinating to see our more dynamic personalities concentrating like mad to answer any questions the tour guide asked (the reason being that if the answer was right then more free choc was handed out).
My own personal highlight of the day was Fenella's Augustus Gloop moment when, at the announcement the tour was coming to an end, she dived over to the liquid chocolate machine to eat as much as possible before leaving.
Back to the hostel for dinner, then rehearsal, with the band splitting into the D grade band and Youth Band for seperate run throughs of Jupiter, Liberty Bell, and Dream Catchers.
Roll on tomorrow, we are ready!

Butterflies at the Museum

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Play out at the Museum

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Day 4

Another eventful day for Nelson Vivace Youth Brass starting with an trip to Otago Museum for a concert with a a smaller band. Unfortunately There was a confusion with the time; the band turning up for 9.30 but the museum didn't open untill ten. The concert went ahead anyway and went excellently with the repeat in the afternoon going just as well. We were lucky enough to have our sponsor Riki McDonnell, owner of Vivace playing with us to a receptive audience.
The highlight for band members though was the visit to the Cadbury factory topped off by witnessing a ton of chocolate being poured down a huge silo and of course the chocolate handouts which allowed some band members to showcase their skills at consuming vast amounts of chocolate. Anticipation is building towards tomorrow 's contest even though everybody is stuggling to keep their eyes open.

Nick Somerville, Tenor Horn

Day Three

The day started with a trip to Otago University to watch the solo competitions take place, all of the Youth band were stunned at how fast, loud, quiet, and lyrical the soloists were. Almost all of the band saw Mike Ford gain his umpteenth Tenor Horn title in a magical performance, congratulations to another Nelsonian, Steve Rudhall who came second in the cornet solos.
After seeing the soloists the band then had a quick whizz around the mall to get some shopping in, before coming back to the hostel for lunch and then a stroll to Moanna Pool, where a great time was had by all (some daredevil divers we have in this band!).
Following the pool, we had dinner and the percussion team managed to get a sectional rehearsal with professional percussionist Grant Myhil (which inspired all of them very much), a full rehearsal at half past seven saw the band in fine form and the sound of our bass trombonist even had the first cornets turning round to look at who was making all the noise! Well done Katherine!
Post rehearsal the boys successfully beat the girls into bed with lights out and all quiet by ten past ten, they will all enjoy the ice creams the girls will buy for them tomorrow...

Practice night

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Moana Pool

Day Two

An action packed day for the Vivace Youth Band saw the four soloists get up at 5.30 this morning to get to Dunedin in time for their respective solo competitions (more of which later), the rest of the band meanwhile had a lie in till around 7. The band then left Blue Skies at 8.15 arriving at Burnham Army base at 9 for some rehearsal work with the New Zealand Army Band. The session with the army was hugely rewarding for all involved, we focussed on intonation and tuning, as well as a lot of breathing work. Again, as we are finding on the road, we are making a lot of new friends around the country.
Following the Army experience (I think there may some Army musicians of the future in the Vivace Youth Band...Megan...) the band then left for Dunedin, stopping off for lunch at Ashburton, and then afternoon tea at Moeraki Boulders. A very tired band arrived at Dunedin around 6, ate dinner, rehearsed yet again, and then settled down for a good nights sleep (yeah, right).
As for those soloists, well, I'll leave it to Mike to expand on in a later blog, but the results were DJ sixth, Fenella fourth, Madeleine fifth, and Jarrah third, a fantastic achievement and a great set of musical ambassadors for Nelson Vivace Youth!

ay One

Well the first day and the first gig of the tour is over. The band played very well, the soloists excelled, and the audience were 'wowed'. Then the band settled in to hear Canterbury Brass play their contest pieces. Canterbury Brass are an A Grade, so the Youth Band got to hear something to inspire them (Katherine Carpinter now knows what a Bass Trom should sound like! Come on Katherine!)
To finish the day off we had hot milo and home baking at Blue Skies. Tomorrow morning (5.30 no less!) Fenella, Melon, Jarrah, Dj, and Mike leave for the solo competitions in Dunedin. Whilst the rest of us have a lie in till 7 before leaving for the Army Base!

Trip To Dunedin

Hi everyone. I get the priveledge of being the first to log a post on the blog, seeing as how Sue (my wife) set it up! I am looking forward to sharing your first National Brass Band Contest experience with you all. I can still clearly remember my first one in Wellington in 1973, and 37 years later I still enjoy the Nationals as much as ever! It is the biggest annual music festival in the country. There are 27 bands attending this year. Multiply that by the number of players and supporters, and that gives you an idea of how many bandspeople are about to decend on central Dunedin! Special best wishes to Jarrah, DJ, Fenella and Madeline for Wednesday.
Kick arse guys!
Cheers, Mike