The Wangaratta Concert Band acquired the three instruments not only to bolster its ranks, but also bring a more authentic link to World War I for the band’s contribution to Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services.
Band contributor Ben Thomas regularly plays the Last Post at both services in Wangaratta, in north-east Victoria, and felt the need to give more authenticity to his contribution.
“I have been playing cornet at services for many years and wanted to get the right sound, so we got a bugle because it was what the troops used back then,” Ben said.
“The bugle is better at making the sound that the diggers knew.”
The second bugle purchased from the grant allows co-member Graeme Rourke to play simultaneously at the Oxley services.
“The other part to this story is that the concert band is looking for new members and wanting younger musicians to join up and play,” Ben said.
“The new instruments will go toward helping this, particularly the saxophone which is something that the band needs and is normally an expensive instrument to own or rent.”
The band was awarded the grant from the FRRR and Gardiner Dairy Foundation.
The program this year awarded $120,000 to Victorian dairy communities statewide and attracted much interest from a variety of community organisations.
FRRR CEO Natalie Egleton said community groups had reported challenges in local fundraising following two years of COVID interruptions and increasing operational costs.
“Despite this, these local groups show a determination to overcome challenges and invest in projects and initiatives that enhance local opportunities or help fill gaps in service delivery,” Natalie said.
“This diversity of projects reflects that each of these communities is different and, therefore, so too are their needs and priorities.
“We are grateful to the Gardiner Foundation for recognising the importance of communities being able to access flexible funding to fill these gaps and for partnering with us for so long to provide this funding.”
The Gardiner Dairy Foundation invests in people, science and technology projects that aim to maximise benefits to all sectors of the Victorian dairy industry and Victorian dairy communities and has contributed more than $85 million to dairy industry projects since 2000.
Ben was born into a musical family in Bairnsdale and followed in the footsteps of his father who played trumpet in the local brass band.
He has since travelled extensively, playing in bands in Melbourne and New Zealand and next February will be returning to Lucerne in Switzerland for their annual Fasnacht Festival, where musicians dress in costumes in a three-day parade designed to herald in fasting for Lent.
The Wangaratta Concert Band is one part of the local music scene and Ben also contributes to Project 365, a recently founded mental health initiative.
The band’s theme of ‘U Can Cry’ reflects a community need for mental health awareness.
The initiative was started by local drummer Peter Rourke who addressed his own experience with depression by bringing together 16 musicians to form a band of diverse artists and stage a concert to spread the word that ‘it’s OK to not be OK’.
Singer Lauren Grenfell said the band’s first show had been well received by the community and had found its place in the city’s music scene.
“The ripple effect around the community was huge,” Lauren said.
“We didn’t want to be a standard little rock band. We do cover songs, but each member chooses their own song and then adds their individual element to it.
“The brass section has grown and so the jazz element is definitely there and that’s thanks to Ben.”
Printed programs at their last concert had a brief outline of the mental health issue that touched people known to band members behind each song.
“Music is the perfect avenue for this.”
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