No squeaky saxophones or terrible trumpets could be found in the Mountains Youth Band at the Australian National Concert Band Championships over the Easter weekend.

The band of 42 teenagers from the Nepean and Blue Mountains area were named the 2009 Australian National Champion Concert Band in their Under 19 Youth C Division. This was the band’s first attempt at national competition, performing to an audience of almost 500 at Sydney’s Seymour Centre, and sweeping away the competition by scoring the highest marks in all four sections. The seven NSW and interstate concert bands each had to perform a stage march, a hymn or sacred item, an "own choice" concert item and a compulsory test piece of music.

The chief adjudicator for the section, American composer and music educator James Curnow, praised the band’s fine playing. "The band played musically, tunefully, accurately and expressively," he said."Claude Smith (the arranger of the band’s own choice item God of Our Fathers) would be very proud of what you did with his piece."

Mountains Youth Band’s victory followed an intense period of preparation, including a musically demanding weekend camp. The band’s administrator Kath Weston praised musical director Garry Clark and the musicians’ team spirit. "While there’s no doubt the band’s instrumentalists are talented, it’s their sense of community and support for each other and their commitment and dedication to the band that makes it all work so well," she said.

from: Penrith Press, 21 Apr 09, http://penrith-press.whereilive.com.au/lifestyle/story/youth-make-top-band/