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Originally formed in 1960 under the guidance of Reg Bishop as the Chatswood District Band, Willoughby City Band has been the leading Senior and Junior A Grade combination in NSW for over 25 years. In the NSW contesting field, the Senior Band has won the Championship 18 times and been second on 4 occasions, and the Juniors have been victors at 23 contests and runners up thrice.
At a national level, the Senior Band has won 4 titles with numerous second places, while the Juniors have won 22 times.
Since 1973, Willoughby has had a successful concert series, featuring guest artists, conductors and ensembles. Numerous new works have had their premier performances, and for over ten years, workshops have been held for Primary School bands. The band has travelled to many parts of the state to perform concerts and workshops.
As well as attending every major competition in Australia, the band has competed with distinction in New Zealand on three occasions, being runners up in 1990. In 2001, the Juniors won New Zealand’s Open C Grade Championship.
Other competition wins include the ABC Band of the Year, East Coast of Australia, and the Ern Keller Night. The band has performed with many renowned artists including The Childs Brothers, James Morrison and Stephen Mead. The band has been featured many times on ABC radio and was chosen to perform for the ABC’s 50th Anniversary celebrations on National TV.
A special highlight was in 1992 when Willoughby Band travelled to Tokyo, Japan, on a highly successful concert tour. Ten varied styles of concerts were performed to capacity audiences over the twelve days.
A feature of the band’s history has been the success of its players in State and national Solo competitions and the very high rate of players who now perform in professional orchestras. Also, many of its players have been chosen to play with the Australian Youth orchestra and have toured overseas.
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