The students in the NWPS Concert Band arrived at school at 7 am on Thursday the 24th of October and left for Kanwal Public School at 7:20 am. When we arrived at Kanwal Public School, we performed in the school hall. Mr Odams (our usual conductor) was unwell so unfortunately, he was not able to come on the tour but thankfully, we were conducted by Rowen, who was the band conductor at Kanwal Public School. We performed several of our pieces including March to the Headmaster’s Office, El Taco Picante, A Story to Tell, and Awake the Iron.
After the concert and a quick morning tea break, we headed off to Long Khanh Lakefront Retirement Village in Toukley where we performed the same pieces, again conducted by Rowen. We had to play quieter because of the age of the audience and the small size of the room we played in. Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at Canton Beach Foreshore Playground.
After lunch, our final stop was Erina Fair. We played in an outdoor area conducted by Oliver. Before the concert band played, we had the Performance Band play two of their pieces, Havana, which included some great solos, and Silent Movie. After we had packed up all of our instruments for the final time that day, at 3:55 pm we stopped at Terrigal Beach where everyone got an ice cream. Most people got completely covered in sand after playing on the shore. Finally, we got on the bus for one last time. It was a bit over an hour before we got back to school so I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it would be to sit in a bus for an hour while having sand in your pants and your shoes. We finally arrived back at school at 6 pm and unpacked the heavily loaded bus.
“My Favourite stop was Kanwal Public school because all of the children enjoyed listening to us play all of our songs. I also enjoyed playing with Rowen as our conductor.” – Harriet
“My favourite concert was the Long Khanh Lakefront Retirement Village. The people there were so kind and grateful to have us come and perform for them. Since we had to play quieter, it was a nice change for both my ears and my lungs.” – Antony
By Harriet Purches and Antony G
(Year 6 – 2024)