2025: Year in Review

2025 was a stellar year for Westgate Concert Band. We presented three massive performances, growing our band networks and collaborative opportunities, as well as taking part in the Western Bands Festival. Our members made it all possible and we have been delighted to welcome a host of new players (from across the world even!) and indoctrinate two long standing members to the rank of Life Member!

Formal Concerts

Westgate Concert Band put on three HUGE concerts in 2025. On a most auspicious day, May the Fourth, we rocketed into outer space with our Galactic Grooves performance, opening with the iconic theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey before touring sci-fi movie soundscapes and taking in some planet-inspired symphonic greatness including Holst’s Mars: the Bringer of War. In September, we presented Ghibli to Gaming with our guest young musicians. Here, Mario and Totoro ruled, as we levelled up our skills and uncovered the nostalgia of Joe Hisaishi’s works, soared in How to Train Your Dragon and Journey-ed with a saxophone solo. To close out the year, we went even bigger… over 100 people bigger to be precise, joining with the Play It Forward choirs, The Choir of Opportunity, THECHO!R, Voices of Moonee Valley, Voices of Footscray Hospital, Latrobe Valley Choir and YES I CAN! Gippsland Choir to present Harmonic Horizons. Nothing gets more epic than starting and ending with Carmina Burana, while also taking in the likes of Finlandia, When You Believe and Va, Pensiero with a mighty choir and band. A huge thank you goes to the Play It Forward crew, their Musical Director Patrick Burns, and the dedicated Westgaters that made a dream a reality.

Musical Outreach with the support of the Maribyrnong City Council

At the end of 2024, Westgate Concert Band were successful in attaining a Small Community Grant from Maribyrnong City Council. With these funds, we were able to welcome a group of young musicians to our rehearsals in August who then performed with us at a free concert at the Maribyrnong Community Centre. We acquired several new musical pieces to appeal to these young musicians including works from Studio Ghibli and those inspired by popular video games. We were thrilled with the dedication and engagement of these young musicians, who worked hard to tackle even the most difficult of pieces and encouraged us all to step up our musical game. Throughout the term we were fortunate to be led by guest conductors Mat Taylor, Harrison Merrifield and Blake Mitchell, who each brought new perspectives and inspiring challenges. Westgate Concert Band would like to thank the Maribyrnong City Council Community Grants Program for their support of our successful Musical Outreach event.

Timpani!

This year we also undertook our long-awaited Timpani repairs. We were lucky to receive funding from the Victorian Government’s West Gate Neighbourhood Fund in 2024 and were excited to finally have our percussion refurbished by Ready Please Mr Musig. Our timpani have suffered their share of wear and tear over the years, not only due to the required unbridled enthusiasm of timpanists, but also due to the complex tuning mechanisms within and their bulky forms which make them difficult to move and transport.  Our timpani were dismantled, extensively cleaned (for the first time since the 90s!), the pedals and gauges regulated and realigned, and the Timpani Heads replaced. Westgate again extends their thanks to The West Gate Neighbourhood Fund for their valuable support.

Western Bands Festival

The Western Bands Festival celebrated its second year in 2025. Six local bands gathered at Suzzane Cory High School to celebrate local community music and musicians. We presented a varied repertoire, embracing some Latin-vibes with We Don’t Talk About Bruno, a little bit of folk music with Irish Tune from County Derry, and a blend of styles in Howl’s Moving Castle Symphonic Fantasy for Band. We then worked with clinician Ken Waterworth (of Salvation Army Melbourne Staff Band fame) before taking part in mass combined works. This event offers community ensembles the valuable chance to receive critical feedback outside of the competition circuit and we look forward to participating again. Westgate Concert Band thanks the Western Bands Festival Organising Committee for their efforts.

Fundraising goals

It takes a lot of cash to keep a community organisation running these days, and we would like to thank everyone who took part in or supported our fundraising efforts. We sizzled our way through rain and shine twice at Bunnings Sunshine this year and sold our fair share of chocolates. As an added measure, we also signed up to the Victorian Container Deposit scheme, which means 10c from any container you recycle in the West Zone can go to helping us!

Share with us

Wish there were more photographs or videos of your favourite community concert band (that’s us, by the way)? We can only capture so many moments from behind our instruments so we’re asking for your help. If you have any pictures or recording of the band, we would love for you to share them with us at westgateconcertband@gmail.com. Please note that by providing your material to Westgate Concert Band, you also give permission for them to be used in future promotional or other media. Thank you!

With thanks

Westgate Concert Band would like to thank to our Musical Director, Elliott Westbury, along with all our guest conductors, Mat Taylor, Harrison Merrifield, Blake Mitchell and Patrick Burns, who encouraged us and improved our musicality this year. We would also like to thank our Committee of Management for their never-ending efforts to keep our organisation running, our Friends of the Band that generously help at our events, and Braybrook College for their continued support. Special thanks this year also goes to our friendly band neighbours, Werribee Concert Band, Western Brass and Melbourne Rainbow Band, for sharing their conductors, their players and/or loaning us music along the way. And of course, the fabulous singers of the Play It Forward choirs who were a treat to work with!

Until next year…

We are already busy planning our upcoming calendar of events and have some special concerts coming your way. We’ll welcome back our singers in style, find out what makes a piece of music a “classic” and dive into mythic worlds. Until then, have a happy Christmas and a safe, healthy and happy New Year!

Yours in music,

Westgate Concert Band