Author: andrew_nielsen

Melbourne Town Hall Seven of our members had the chance to perform at the ALSO Foundation’s inaugural GLBT Seniors’ Health and Well Being Festival, held at the Melbourne Town Hall.  We split into three groups for the event: a flute trio, a flute/clarinet/cello trio and a four piece jazz ensemble.  Each group go to perform…

The final performance of our community concert series was targeted towards South Yarra Emergency Housing, located at St Joseph’s Church. As well as the current residents of the Emergency Housing, the concert attracted a significant number of the local parishioners as well as members of the general public. Mark Lyall, the Band’s Deputy Musical Director,…

DT’s is a long-term supporter of the MRB, and for the third year in a row the Band was invited to perform at the Hotel’s birthday celebrations. Due to the size of the venue, only small ensembles were feasible, but that didn’t stop six Band members from getting together to perform over an hour and…

Buddha Day was once again a success, with the MRB participating in the 2 day celebration of diversity for the third year in a row. The 25 minute performance on the outdoor stage at Federation Square was well received by the audience, and generated more great publicity for the Band. The predominantly fast and jazzy…

Bent Rhapsody featured the haunting violin theme from Schindler’s List, Sammy Nestico’s smooth saxophone solo Persuasion, and our trombone trio moving things along with Lassus Trombone. Gershwin’s masterpiece, Rhapsody in Blue was performed by special guest Mitchell Chipman at the piano. His stirring performance of this iconic composition roused the audience to cheering applause. Guest…

Our third community concert was specifically aimed at the Eagles group, a community based program that aims to provide a greater degree of independence and decision making ability to people with a mild intellectual disability. This was the first in the concert series to be performed outdoors, and as well as the Eagles group it…

The MRB’s fourth and last march for Summer 2007 was once again down Swanston Street, in front of a large and enthusiastic mainstream audience.  This was the Band’s second year marching in Moomba, and even though our numbers were down on last year the parade itself ran much more smoothly and easily. This event was…

Marching at Mardi Gras we once again had the opportunity to strut our stuff.  With flashing lights and glow sticks to add a touch of flare, we made a great impression during the 2km parade: the audience sang along enthusiastically to Celebration, and cheered wildly for our choreographed dance steps.  Between rehearsals and seemingly endless…

Midsumma Carnival is the grand finale of the Midsumma Festival, and for the MRB this event was the end of a very busy but satisfying summer. The Band took to the Swiss Navy Main Stage for a half hour performance in the morning, followed by two informal and highly popular sets in the afternoon.  These…

The annual Motafrenz picnic has become a regular in the MRB calendar, and this year was our third providing musical entertainment at the event. From our vantage point under trees at the side of the oval, the Band performed two 25 minute sets in between driving skill competitions, raffles and presentations.