Aging like fine wine – Waratah Brass turns 140!

As wine improves with age, so has the region’s premier brass band!

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However, unlike wine, which is kept in the dark and ignored, this beloved group has been out and about spreading music for all to enjoy. Never shying away from an opportunity to enjoy their music and share that with all who will listen, in 2024, Waratah Brass Newcastle is celebrating 140 years of making music in our community. And they want you to celebrate with them!

Waratah Brass Newcastle has been operating continuously since 1884, entertaining local people with time-honoured and contemporary brass band music and traditions for generations. This makes Waratah Brass one of the oldest volunteer musical groups in the country and a historic achievement to be proud of. The organisation currently presents two brass groups that provide community-based musical performances: Waratah Brass - Newcastle and Waratah Brass Academy Band. 

Both bands compete in brass band contests on a national, state, and regional level and present a series of four concerts annually. Waratah Brass competes in the A-Grade section of competitions, whilst Waratah Brass Academy Band was recently awarded first prize in the NSW State D-Grade section. Waratah Brass groups are well known in the Newcastle, Hunter and Lake Macquarie regions and perform for many local festivals, charity events and special occasions.

The organisation is dynamic and strives to attract new players and supporters of their musical family through community engagement and a busy performance schedule. Those wanting to be nurtured in music education and to learn to play a brass or percussion instrument are the future of brass bands and live musical performances in our community. Anyone who wants to be involved in a long-running organisation whose foundation activities are community-building, maintaining tradition, education and live performance is welcome. The organisation offers a safe environment in which to develop skills, musical knowledge, performance ability, camaraderie, tolerance, respect, and acceptance.

For 140 years, a dedicated community of volunteer musicians of all ages has come together under various Waratah-based names such as Waratah Town Band, Waratah-Mayfield District Band & Waratah Brass – Newcastle. Over the many decades, brass players have united under the ‘Waratah’ banner to continue the traditions of brass bands in our local and broader communities and develop their musical abilities on various brass and percussion instruments.

The Waratah Brass organisation has provided opportunities for local and visiting musicians to perform and to be involved in a nurturing and successful community organisation. Having weathered the impacts of two world wars, natural disasters and several bouts of homelessness, the organisation has survived and is now home to two successful and thriving brass bands.  The bands currently rehearse in the old administration buildings at the MolyCop industrial plant at Mayfield West on Tuesday evenings.

To celebrate this amazing milestone, Waratah Brass will be hosting a Commemorative Concert at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, 20 October, from 1:30pm. 

The bands will present a wonderful programme of music for all tastes, including brass band classics and tunes by Strauss, Leonard Bernstein, Neil Sedaka, Stevie Wonder, and many more. The concert will also showcase several of the band's talented soloists during the afternoon within the stunning atmosphere of the Cathedral.

Celebrations will continue from 5:30pm at the Cricketers Arms Hotel in Cooks Hill, where past members, families and friends are invited to join the bands in sharing stories and toasting this historic occasion.