It is with heavy hearts that we acknowledge the passing of Robert Bedwell OAM. Former President of the National Band Council of Australia. Robert dedicated his life to teaching and making music. He was an ardent supporter of the Band Association of NSW and a prolific conductor whose career spanned over 25 years. He was at the helm of several bands, including the Central Coast Concert Band, the Forrest High School Bands, the City of Lake Macquarie Concert Band, and the Abbotsleigh Girls School Concert Band. He also established the Forrest Wind Orchestra. He mentored countless students and left an indelible mark on their musical education. Robert was a highly successful conductor who won four Open National Band Championship titles in Open ‘D’ Concert, Open ‘C’, and Open ‘B’ Concert. He was also a respected adjudicator at...

Did you know that the National Band Council of Australia have an interactive map of the locations of the community brass and concert bands of Australia? This is an ongoing project designed to provide a streamlined method to easily obtain the name of bands, their rehearsal locations and times, website links and Facebook pages. So far there are 235 brass and 282 concert bands plotted on the map which can be accessed by clicking here. As we are sure you can appreciate this is a large project, and while every effort is made to ensure that the information is correct, we appreciate that details can get out of date very quickly. Please let us know if your band is not featured on the map or if changes or corrections need to be made to your band’s...

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of NBCA Life Member, former Executive Officer and Western Australian Councillor Tony Schraven. Tony was a humble and hardworking person, regularly putting the needs of others above his own. He could always be found backstage at a contest, happy to take on any volunteer role. Tony was also President of the Western Australian Band Association, long term President, librarian, publicity officer, bookings officer and playing member of the Mandurah Concert Band, member of the 2013 Perth Nationals Organising Committee, 2016 Western Australian Bands Person of the Year and a trumpet player extraordinaire who was awarded 'Local Legend' status by the Mandurah Shire Council in 2020. Those who knew Tony knew him as a kind and generous man who always had time to talk and to support those around him. He...

Reading some of the responses to the selection of Test Pieces for the 2022 Australian Nationals made it clear that we need to be more involved in selecting and promoting works by a diverse range of composers. I have chatted with Dr Jodie Blackshaw on this topic, and one of her most powerful messages is that there is a lot of great music by diverse composers, but we as conductors need to search out this music which initially can be harder to find. In association with Dr Jodie Blackshaw (NSW) and Rachel Howley (QLD), the NBCA have collated a list of works by female composers, both Australian and international, for concert bands at Grade 4+ level and above. This list is intended to be a “one-stop shop” for conductors when looking for engaging works to select...