Hall Village Brass Band

The Hall Village Brass Band was founded in the Canberra suburb of Hall in 1984 to resurrect the tradition of brass banding that first came to the regions of New South Wales surrounding what is now Canberra in the 1860's. In the early part of the 20th Century, brass bands were a vibrant part of the cultural life of most Australian communities, very often being the only source of music. Bands flourished in Canberra, Yass, Queanbeyan and Goulburn, as well as in a number of smaller towns. In the 1950's & 1960's or thereabouts all these bands disbanded and an important aspect of the region's cultural heritage was lost.

Fortunately the founding of the Hall Village Brass Band, which is now the only brass band in the ACT and surrounding area, was able to call on the experience of a few surviving members of the former Goulburn, Queanbeyan and Yass Bands to re-establish the art form. The band is self-funded and depends entirely upon the subscriptions of its members and fees from engagements. It has no formal sponsorship or substantial Government support.

The band performs regularly in concerts, community celebrations, and on ceremonial occasions. Some representative recent performances include; performances at the Australian War Memorial (one of which was broadcast live on ABC Classic FM); the Prime Minister's XI Cricket Match; Queanbeyan ANZAC Day Parade; the National Botanic Gardens Summer Sunday Concert series; music for the Italian Community's ceremonial procession of the Madonna; and ceremonial and entertainment music for various Embassies and High Commissions in Canberra.

The band competes regularly at both State and National Brass Band Contests and is ranked by the magazine "Australian Band World" among the top fifteen of the more than 400 brass bands in Australia on the basis of its recent competition results. In recent years, the band has achieved Champion Band of the National Eisteddfod and B grade Champion band of NSW. In 1999, the band toured New Zealand and competed in their National Championships. The crowning achievement, musically, for the band was winning the "B" Grade brass band section of the 2002 National Band Championships in Geelong.

The Hall Village Brass Band has the extensive library of more than 2000 compositions. It has luckily inherited music from several of now defunct bands of the area, and has been able to build on this foundation by obtaining an extensive modern repertoire of music, including that of several modern Australian composers.

Players are drawn from all over Canberra and surrounding NSW. They range in age from 17 to 75, and come from all walks of life. Some of our members are recognised as being among the finest brass musicians in Australia.