Willoughby Band has set the standard for other Bands to follow at the recent National Band Championship held over the Easter weekend at The Seymour Centre, Sydney.

Over 10 Willoughby Band members placed in the top 10 of their sections, with 8 in the top 3!

Jeff Ma
1st, Open Euphonium

Chris Moran
1st, Open Trumpet (Sutherland PCYC)
1st, Junior Trumpet (Sutherland PCYC)
2nd, Junior Flugel Horn

Josh Jaworski
2nd, Open EEb Tuba

Brian McGuinness
2nd, Open Bb Cornet 

Jason Xu
2nd, Junior Trumpet (Knox Grammar)

Paul Mason, Ann Mason, Andrew Sambell & Peter O’Brien
2nd, Open Quartet

Rhiannon Davis
3rd, Open Eb Soprano Cornet

Andrew Sambell
3rd, Open Tenor Trombone

Ben Blunt
3rd, Junior Eb Soprano Cornet

Kelly McGuinness
5th Junior Tenor Horn 

John Linquist
Equal 7th, Junior Bb Cornet 

Siobhan McGuinness
7th Junior Euphonium 

Gemma Hogg
9th, Open Bb Cornet 

From the band, a warm congratulations to all soloists!

The 2nd Annual City of Orange Brass Celebration, held over the weekend of 7-8 March 2009, brought together 4 brass bands from around the state - the City of Orange Brass Band, Wollongong Salvation Army Band, Parramatta City Band and Willoughby Band.

The programme for Saturday comprised a street march from Robertson Park to Cook Park, an free afternoon of music from the bandstand at Cook Park, an evening concert at the Orange Civic Theatre. On Sunday, crowds were again treated to a free concert in Cook Park.

At the completion of the street march as well as at the Saturday evening concert and the Sunday concert in the park, all four bands had an opportunity to play together en masse.

Aside from providing a great playing opportunity, the Brass Celebration gave each of the bands a chance to meet one another and socialise.

The Central Western Daily newspaper interviewed Willoughby Band conductor Andrew Snell over the weekend - the interview can be found here at their website .

Another group involved in the weekend celebrations was the Orange Camera Club, whose members took a series of stunning photographs at the various events. A slideshow can be found by clicking here .