There’s plenty happening for the Kerepēhi Brass Band this year, as the organisation prepares to host the 2024 Waikato Bay of Plenty Brass Band Festival for the first time since 1996.
The regional festival, taking place on September 28 and 29, has never been held in Thames before. Band chairperson Luke van Vliet said it will be an opportunity for the community to hear some first-rate brass band music.
“Brass bands have a rich history of contesting all around the world,” he said.
“The brass bands take it quite seriously… It’s essentially going to be the best of what the Waikato [and] Bay of Plenty has to offer in concert.”
Around 250 musicians are expected to arrive in Thames for the event, including the A-grade band Hamilton City Brass.
The festival will include the solo and party competition at Thames High School on September 28 during the day, with the full band events held the following day at the Thames Civic Centre. A new showcase event has also been added on the 28th, with winners from the day’s contest displaying their skills at an evening concert at the Civic Centre.
Luke said the band was still looking for sponsors for the event, while an earlier call for volunteers had been met with an enthusiastic response from local organisations such as Thames Rotary.
“There’s a good 24-odd solo and party events,” Luke said.
“We’re trying to have it all Thames-funded. But really, anybody who’d like to sponsor would be great.”
The band members, meanwhile, have begun their rehearsals for the festival.
“We’ve got a new musical director this year, Andrew Christie, who’s got a rich conducting background. He’s fairly new to brass bands, but he’s been doing an awesome job conducting us,” Luke said.
They will play a 45-minute programme, consisting of a hymn tune, a soloist’s item, an approximately 10-minute long test piece, and an entertainment piece.
Luke said he was proud of how far the band has come in the last few years.
“When I started here in 2015, there were six of us sitting in this room…. The band’s come a long way the last few years, and it’s really trying to keep that momentum going,” he said.
“Last year was the first year we contested since 2006. This year we’re hosting… The goal is to get the band to nationals in a couple of years, which would be awesome.”
Most important though, Luke said, was the need to keep the band a fun, community-minded group.
“It might take 10 years before we start moving up the grades. But I’ve always been firm that we don’t want to become a solely competing band – we’re a community band at heart,” he said.
“I think that’s the only way a band like this can exist in a small community like we are.”
And in order to continue serving the community, the band, which was founded in 1946, is also investing in its future as it looks to replace its ageing instruments.
“The last time the band probably had major investment in its instruments was in the 1960s or 50s,” Luke said.
“We were hoping to replace about two-thirds of a band’s worth, so about 20. I mean, if we can get more, that’s awesome.”
The band’s funding application to the council said it would cost around $169,000 to replace the instruments. So far, the band has received $5000 from Hauraki District Council and $5000 from Trust Waikato. Internal fundraising has also been underway, with Luke saying generous community donations around Christmas last year saw them raise nearly $10,000. The band has already replaced a euphonium and cornet, and will soon be looking at buying a couple more instruments.
Funding the replacements will be a long-term project, Luke said, but worth it for the better sound quality and longevity of the band.
“Historically in New Zealand, instruments have been something very difficult to fund for,” Luke said.
“We went for pretty decent quality instruments too. We could have gone for a lot cheaper stuff – but, like I always say to people, when the band invested in their instruments 80 years, 60 years ago, they went for good quality then, and they’ve lasted 60 years. So I wouldn’t want to have to do this all again in 10 years’ time.”
DETAILS: Waikato Bay of Plenty Brass Band Festival, September 28-29 in Thames. Contact kerepehibrass@gmail.com to get involved.
