Saturday
The MSB's eagerly anticipated weekend away to Canberra called for another early Saturday morning start. Some bandsmen arrived at the airport two hours early, just so they could get through the long term car park! By 8:15, the band were sitting comfortably in their Qantas seats ready for departure. That was until an announcement came over asking for a Mr Lindsay Peterson to make himself known to the cabin crew. The crew were soon informed that Mr Peterson was still relaxing in the departure lounge, casually sipping on his morning coffee! He was soon hurried aboard and the band could relax knowing that they would have their flugel horn player available for the weekend.

This was to be a special weekend for the band for a number of reasons. It was one of the first engagements for guest conductor Colonel Robert Redhead, who is taking the band for a number of months. It had been great to have Colonel Redhead lead a couple of rehearsals and we looked forward to playing under him over the weekend.

The band's very special guests for the weekend were two fine musicians in Philip and Sheila Smith. Philip has been the principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for 20 years (see principaltrumpet.com) while Sheila is an accomplished soprano and music teacher. Together, they are part of the group Resounding Praise back home in New Jersey. We were certainly pleased that they had been able to come all the way from the other side of the world to join us for this weekend and future concerts in Melbourne and Ballarat.

The band arrived in Canberra and were surprised that beanies and scarves weren't needed on exiting the terminal. We were transported to the Canberra City Temple where we were met by sumptuous platters of exotic dried fruits, cheeses and dips. It was a welcome beginning to a busy day.

The early part of the afternoon was to be taken up at Parliament House. It is an imposing site as it stands high on a hill overlooking Canberra, topped by an Australian flag the size of a double decker bus sitting atop an 81 metre high flagpole. It was a very busy weekend at Parliament House due to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's hosting of his 2020 summit, which drew citizens from all over Australia to meet and discuss the country's future. Unfortunately that meant that we weren't able to play in the Great Hall, but we did head upstairs to the Mural Hall between the House of Representatives and Senate chambers. This area was directly under the flagpole in the centre of Parliament House and surrounded by murals of Australia's prime ministers.

The band presented a light program, with numbers including 'El es el Senor', 'O Happy Day', 'William Tell Overture', 'Lightwalk' and the marches ' Invincible Army' and 'Manhattan'. Much of the people touring around Parliament House heard the band, including Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson and Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon. The audience were also treated to a couple of numbers from Philip Smith, including Stephen Bulla's arrangement 'The Reason' and Goedicke's 'Concert Etude'. It was a performance that earned Philip an article in the next day's Canberra Times newspaper!

We were then lucky enough to be given a tour around Parliament House and could see first hand its impressive architecture, stunning art collection and variety of Australian timbers used throughout. We also visited both the House of Representatives and Senate chambers and went up to view the flag from the outside, which included fantastic views of the city.

We soon headed back to the Canberra City Temple before the evening's concert. During this time, a couple of bandsmen headed over the road to take in some culture at the local rugby league match of the day. The bone jarring hits could be felt by the fans, as could the steam coming from the captain of the team who had just let in a try in front of these bandsmen. Suffice to say, it was an impassioned speech to his players, the likes of which would not have been heard by too many bandsmen in band practice! They soon headed back to the hall with their ears ringing!

The evening concert was to be held at the Canberra Girls' Grammar School and after a couple of laps, we finally made our way in to set up. There was just time for a quick sound check and light meal before we began. The MSB began with 'All Glorious' (Gates) before Philip joined us for his first piece, Ronald Holz's arrangement of Clifton Williams' 'Dramatic Essay'. This was followed by the band with their first major work of the evening, 'Rhapsody on a Theme by Purcell' by Kevin Norbury. Other contributions included 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' (Bach arr Leidzen) and 'Shepherd's Hey' (Grainger arr Squibb). Philip also presented 'L'ete - Summer' (Chaminade) and 'Concerto for Cornet (Curnow) before joining with the band and Sheila Smith with 'The Lamb will Reign Forevermore'.

The second half began with the famous Wilfred Heaton march 'Praise' before Philip and Sheila again combined to present 'Deep Down' and 'He's Been Faithful'. Both Philip and Sheila's faith was evident in their presentations, not only through their wonderful musical gifts, but also by their testimony. It was clear that God was working in their lives and the joy they shared as a result. It is worth mentioning the fine job of the ensemble that supported Philip and Sheila in most of their numbers, comprised of bandsmen Mark Bearcroft, Michael Pilley and Damian Rawlings.

With our executive officer Major Len Turner away on holidays, the band certainly appreciated the support of Lt Colonel Raymond Finger, the Chief Secretary of the Southern Territory. Lt Colonel Finger led in to the wonderfully descriptive arrangement of the tune 'When Morning Gilds the Skies' by Greg Pascuzzi. Philip's amazing flexibility was again on display as he seamlessly went from flugel horn to trumpet during this number, which many believed would have been more at home on the screen of a Hollywood blockbuster movie. The familiar line from the song, 'may Jesus Christ be praised' was repeated and highlighted throughout and could have easily been used as a theme for the night.

Sheila's final number for the evening was a wonderful, reflective arrangement of 'His Eye is on the Sparrow', before Philip presented the now well known Salvation Army cornet solo, 'Jubilance' by William Himes. With Colonel Redhead conducting, he was able to inform the audience of the background to his composition, 'A Pastoral Symphony'. Written at a time when he was a corps officer, Colonel Redhead's basis for writing this was his realisation that 'the greatest need of any congregation is its pastor's personal holiness' . This music of four movements highlights the tunes 'Majesty', 'Seek Ye First', 'Except I am moved with compassion', and 'In my life, be glorified'. It was certainly a privilege for the MSB to play this piece of music under the composer's baton. It had been an evening of amazing music and spiritual reflection, which left us all looking forward to what might occur the following day.

Sunday
The band arrived at the Canberra City Temple refreshed after a night of good rest and with a stomach full of a healthy breakfast from their allocated billets ready for a busy day at the Corps.

The morning commenced with a street March which started at the end of the road the church was situated. The band arrived at the starting point but were waiting on the police who were to escort the band to its destination. After about a five minute wait the message had come through that the police wouldn't be there as they had to attend a car accident on the other side of the city. It was agreed that the March should go ahead anyway due to the fact that you would likely see more cars on the road between Melbourne and Tasmania than you did on this particular morning at 9am in Canberra.

After waking up the neighbours the band headed into the church for the holiness meeting.

The meeting began with the band playing an arrangement of Robert and Gwenyth Redheads original song 'To the Glory and the Praise of God'. The song was to be featured later in the service so it was good the congregation got to familiarise themselves with the tune prior.
The Corps Officer Captain Stuart Evans welcomed the Staff Band and Phil and Sheila Smith and commented on the previous nights Musical extravaganza and his delight at being there to experience all that took place.

It was quickly discovered that Captain Evans likes to share a joke and this morning was no exception as after the initial welcomes he then promptly displayed a female Salvation Army uniform stiletto shoe of which he had not found the owner of. He then found a single member of the band and handed it over them to find it's rightful owner!! This was one of the more interesting commencements to a holiness meeting the MSB had been involved in!

The opening song was Len Ballantine's very majestic arrangement of 'Hail Thou Once Despised Jesus' which was followed by Sheila and Philip Smith's first individual item bringing the tender chorus 'When I look into your Holiness'.

Deputy bandmaster Paul Smith brought his testimony which led into the Dean Jones band arrangement of 'Written in Red', Sheila Smith sang a vocal solo titled 'Commitment' then Robert Redhead introduced his song 'To the Glory and the Praise of God' as a Congregational song.

Philip Smith brought his first solo item with the band by playing Stephen Bulla's arrangement 'The Reason' based on the words from the song 'This is Why'. Philip testified prior to this saying that each verse of this song talks about the life of a believer starting from Jesus sacrifice on the cross for our sins before we are born right through to when we ultimately spend eternal life with our Lord. Simple words and a simple tune that was played by Phil in a way which his faith and conviction of the words was evident.

The band was privileged to have Lt Colonel Raymond Finger accompany the band as it's guest speaker for the weekend and he delivered a powerful message based from John 5 v 1-9 talking about 'The Possibility of Change', challenging those present if we want to get well and get up from our captivity, then we have to have faith to allow God to do this. After a time of reflection and response the meeting concluded with Charles Skinner's arrangement of 'Crown Him with many Crowns'.

Members of the band headed back to their billets for lunch and a time of relaxation. Due to the afternoon's concert starting at 3pm more time was available than what is usually the norm so it wasn't quite the rush to get back, so guys had some time for the lunch to settle and maybe grab a quick powernap.

Once all members were accounted for back at the Citadel the concert was up and running, and it was good to see another Principle player in the audience as Mr Ron Prussing had made the 2 hour drive down from Sydney. Ron is the Principle Trombone player in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Another full house was on hand again to see one of the worlds best Orchestral Trumpet players in full flight for the last time this weekend and they weren't to be disappointed.

The MSB opened the innings with James Curnow's arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Procession of Nobles' and after the welcomes jumped straight into the ever popular song 'O Happy Day' (Gott) which featured solos from Micheal Pilley (Trombone) and Lindsay Peterson (Flugel Horn).

Sheila Smith took the stage for the next couple of items singing 'Ride on King Jesus' and 'Give Me Jesus' abley accompanied by MSB members Mark Bearcroft (piano), Damian Rawlings (Drums) and Michael Pilley (Bass Guitar).

Philip Smith joined the MSB for his first solo item of the afternoon playing one of his favourite cornet solos 'Rhapsody on Negro Sprituals' (Steadman-Allen) an extremely difficult solo played flawlessly and almost effortlessley by Phil in another 'out of this world' performance.

Robert Redhead took the microphone to explain the next work the band played, his own composition titled 'Back to the Future'
The work attempts to look back at the past, through to the present and on into the future. The music reflects back to the early beginnings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, using the hymns “The God of Abraham Praise” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” The Reformation is referenced with part of Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” followed by a brief nod to the Wesleyan era (out of which came The Salvation Army) with a fragment of “Amazing Love, How Can It Be?” (Cardiff). The music subsides after this busy section, then a very poignant moment is created. As the band plays a series of chord progressions building from pianissimo to fortissimo, we hear the voice of General William Booth (effectively rendered by Staff Bandsman Russell Webb, PR & Marketing Officer) in words from a famous speech given just months before his death in 1912: “While women weep … I’ll fight!” This in turn leads into a contemporary setting of these words by Australian Salvationist Nathan Rowe, followed by an original song by Robert and Gwenyth Redhead, “To the Glory and Praise of God,” which brings the work to a triumphant conclusion.

'Glorious Morning' was the title of Sheila Smiths next vocal offering, again brilliantly accompanied on the piano by Mark Bearcroft, this was followed by the Trombone Feature of 'All Aboard' (Farrell) which always seems to attract an overwhelming response. The Congregation then got the oppurtunity to involve themselves with the singing of Bill Himes arrangement of 'Amazing Love' accompanied by the MSB.

Eric Ball's Cornet Solo 'The Challenge' is exactly as the title suggests for those soloists daring enough to attempt to play this. Phil Smith had no such worries on this particular performance as he once again massaged his tone, technical precision and control around the notes in an awesome display.

The MSB's next solo item was the meditative and thought provoking hymn arrangement 'Stars of the Morning' from the pen of Kenneth Downie which led into a scripture and some thoughts from Lt Colonel Finger before the MSB aptly continued on with the sprirt of the moment by playing the Brass Band Classic 'The Kingdom Triumphant' (Ball).

The final chord to this God inspired work would normally bring an afternoon such as this to a perfect close but the people of Canberra were treated to something special in the form of Philip Smiths signature solo written specifically for Phil by Stephen Bulla in 'Blessed Assurance'.

Not only had Canberra been spoilt with what they had experienced over the weekend but the MSB were feeling just as blessed as it had been the first time most of the members of the band had the oppurtunity to not only hear and play alongside Philip and Sheila Smith but to hear their Christian witness and the way in which they live out their faith took the experience into another realm.

After the standard pack up and change into the walk out gear, the Corps were kind enough to put on a BBQ tea before we headed off to the airport. After managing to have a bit of time to kill before the flight, some quick sightseeing was suggested so the group headed up to Mt Ainslie, one of Canberra's beautiful lookouts. The view over the War Memorial and up to Parliament House is one that shouldn't be missed if ever visiting the Nations Capital. The coach then pulled into The Royal Military College, Duntroon. Unfortunatley we had to stay on the bus, and considering it was night time it was difficult to see what the tour guide was pointing out but we appreciated the oppurtunity to enter the site of a place that has trained and continues to train and prepare thousands of our Australian Defence Forces over almost 100 yeras and with ANZAC Day only a few days away it was a perfect way to say farewell to Canberra as we boarded the plane for home.