And the Band Plays On

Another weekend, another music festival. Today was the tenth annual Music Festival at St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church at Bothwell.

The Festival was inaugurated by Gwen and John Hardstaff who, with the help of willing volunteers from the community, have organised it every year for the past decade.

John’s membership of the Hobart Veterans’ Brass Band ensured their prominent position on the bill, and this year they were joined by the Bagdad Singers (that’s Bagdad, Tasmania, not the other one), St George’s Church Choir from Battery Point, violinist Doris Kouw and organist Diane Hallett.

The Bagdad Singers at Bothwell

violin soloist Doris Kouw accompanied by
Roslyn Langlois on keyboard

Bernard Gillon, former school teacher at Waddamana, read Seed Bed, a poem by James Patterson, Uniting Church minister Meg Evans read Psalm 98, the Rector, Rev John Langlois, led opening and closing prayers, MC Wayne Doran kept everything moving along, and after the concert everyone repaired to the Town Hall for afternoon tea.

euphonium solo by Eric Morgan 

If, however, you’re imagining one of those church fund-raising concerts we all know and dread – don’t. Nobody here is thinking about money. Today is wholly and solely about music.

Musicians invited to perform at Bothwell are far from being enthusiastic amateurs only included because they're the mayor's husband's niece. Many have played in brass bands in major competitions; some have played with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and others served as bandsmen in the military. A few have never worked professionally, but all take their music very seriously indeed.

Whether or not they still appear regularly in concerts around the state, the one thing they all have in common is their love of music and performance.  They may have retired from the pressure of travel and constant rehearsals,  but  the music goes on.

So we come along every year because this is music the way it was meant to be – played for pleasure to an appreciative audience of friends who just want to enjoy a pleasant afternoon’s entertainment in comfortable and familiar surroundings.  We are never disappointed.

Musical director Myles Luck conducts the Hobart Veterans' Brass Band