woolston+4

The first of the long line of distinguished gentlemen to have wielded Woolston’s baton may well be Charles Bowes, who first rehearsed a group of bandsmen in a shed in Woolston on 28th May 1883. Bowes was followed by Messrs F. Craze and John Pooley, but there is a suggestion that the first bandmaster may have been a Mr Tyrell in 1882, not 1883. Be that as it may, our founding year is formally recognized as 1891, when George Bonnington took charge of a reformed band under the aegis of the Loyal Perseverance Lodge of the Manchester Independent Order of Oddfellows, which title lasted only until 1894, when the title “Woolston Brass Band” was adopted. The band then practiced on the south side of Ferry Road, Woolston, on the corner of Catherine Street and opposite St John’s Church.
 * Tohea kia kaha”**
 * (“Persevere, so there is strength”)**

**TED DERRY AND ALEX LITHGOW**

 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/AlexLithgow_000.jpg width="89" height="128"]] || E.C. (Ted) Derry, a well-known name in early Canterbury brass and military (concert) bands, took up the Woolston baton in 1896, and during his term the band included reeds among the instrumentation. In 1901, A.F. (Alex) Lithgow of "Invercargill March" fame took over the baton, but returned to his native Tasmania the following year, when W.V. Siddall, formerly of Invercargill, took over. ||

**W. V. SIDDALL**
During his term a new rope-tension bass drum was purchased from Boosey and Son in London. This drum, the Band’s oldest serviceable instrument, was in use for many years, refurbished in 1992, embellished with the logo “The W.V. Siddall Drum” in his honour, and is now prominently on display in the Dampier Street museum collection. W V Siddall was responsible for bringing the Woolston Brass Band from obscurity to a position of prominence in the brass band world.
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/WVSidall.JPG width="84" height="128"]] || W.V. Siddall reorganized the band and introduced slide trombones, replacing the valve trombones then in use, and achieved much success in the field of competition. (Band contests, traditional among brass bands since their introduction in the north of England in the mid-1800s, began in New Zealand in 1880.) Woolston’s first contest success however, was under “W.V.” in Invercargill in 1909. In that year a well-wisher gave the Band the land at 37 Dampier Street, Woolston, on which a new bandroom was built and where the band’s headquarters remain to this day. ||

**1914 - 1952 R.J. (DICK) ESTALL MBE**
Under Dick Estall’s baton, the band competed in the Australian Championship contest in Ballarat, Victoria in 1934, when a major prize was won, and in Sydney made the first of what became a series of recordings which have continued at intervals to the present day. This original 78 rpm disc recorded the Rimmer march **Knight of the Road**, a Woolston favourite ever since. Many were the contest successes achieved during Mr Estall’s conductorship, and the Band recorded an early sound recording for broadcast by the BBC in addition to its regular local three-weekly live radio broadcasts; part of the Band’s routine for many years. During the 1930s Dick Estall was awarded both the MBE and the King George V Jubilee Medal in recognition of his services to music and the community. The Estall style was admired and emulated by many, and in Christchurch many aspiring local brass band conductors and players benefited from his tuition and encouragement, among them the youthful Mervyn Waters, later to become Woolston’s musical director. During the Second World War Mr Estall again steered the Band through a lean period, with many bandsmen absent on war service. The Christchurch Centennial Contest of 1950 was Dick Estall’s and the Band’s pinnacle of achievement, when Woolston won all events in the A Grade (unusual in brass band contesting) thus achieving the band’s first “Grand Slam”. An outstanding feature of Woolston’s performance at this contest was the performance of Mozart’s **Fantasia in F Minor**, K.608, arranged Malcolm Sargent, critically acclaimed by the judge, academic and amateur musicians alike. A man of fixed ideas, Estall instilled these into his players, showing clearly what he wanted to achieve any given object. He would spend fifteen minutes with one section in shaping a phrase until he was satisfied, and the rest of the band, listening intently, would follow suit. Full attention was always riveted upon Dick Estall, and in the event of any player losing concentration, a stern glance over his spectacles and the admonition “**Come on, son!**” from the podium invariably brought the miscreant back to stern reality. All but the most senior players knew Dick Estall only as “Mr Estall”, and all were in no doubt as to who was in charge of the band. Dick Estall had a sense of humour, sardonic though it was but never in evidence when conducting the Band either in rehearsal or during a performance. These latter were always thoroughly rehearsed, and although some contest renditions failed to gain a judge’s favour, others which did made Woolston the “Foden’s Motor Works Band” (concurrently premier English brass band) of New Zealand prior to and immediately following the Second World War. Dick Estall was especially keen on the works of Beethoven, and it was not unusual to hear arrangements of some of these performed at Addington Raceway and elsewhere, whether appropriate to the occasion or not. The Estall reputation extended well outside brass bands. He was a successful businessman and a partner in the Christchurch firm of Estall and Buxton, fibrous plasterers, and spoke on equal terms with the man in the street, mayors and prime ministers. Many were the plaudits following Woolston’s contest successes, from those of the 1920s to 1950, Dick Estall’s final contest and the peak of his career. After an illness in 1951, Dick Estall retired as conductor in late 1952. A function in 1955 was held to mark his 55 years as a member of the Band, 38 of them as conductor, when tributes were paid from the Mayor of Christchurch and the Prime Minister, who wrote a fulsome letter of praise for the outstanding services of Randolph James “Dick” Estall MBE. R,J. Estall died in Christchurch in January 1966 at the age of 86 years. **His legend lives on.**
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/DickEstall.JPG width="87" height="128"]] || Dick Estall, born in Wellington in 1879 and a talented euphonium player who joined the Woolston Band in 1897, took up the baton in 1914 “at the urgent request of his fellow bandsmen” it was recorded, and Woolston won the South Island band contest of 1915 under his leadership. This was the first of a series of successes which were to confirm Dick Estall and the Woolston Brass Band as **nulli secundus** in band circles in New Zealand and abroad from then on. He steered the band through a lean period when many brass players were serving overseas during the First World War of 1914-1918. Once contesting resumed after the war, a series of successes kept the band and Dick Estall at the forefront of what many regard as the halcyon period of popularity of brass bands in New Zealand, which was to last until the 1960s. ||

**N.G. (NORMAN) GOFFIN QSO LTCL BBCM**
Norman Goffin, a senior member of the well-known Salvation Army family of musicians, became a Woolstonian almost by accident. After service with the 4th Brigade Band in Crete, North Africa and Italy, Norman returned to New Zealand towards the close of the Second World War. Whilst bandmaster of the Burnham Camp Band, he joined Woolston as a cornet player. At war’s end in 1945 he returned to Shell Oil as an executive in Christchurch, and became Woolston’s deputy conductor. Prior to the 1951 New Zealand Brass Band Championships in Wellington, Mr Estall was indisposed and Norman took over the baton. The band competed in that contest under his leadership and achieved a creditable second in the A Grade and was thus runner-up to that year’s Champion Band. Transfer to Wellington followed soon afterwards, but meanwhile Norman had been elected a Life Member of the Band, a distinction he treasured for the rest of his life. A long and successful musical career in the capital ensued as conductor of Onslow Brass Band (now Pelorus Trust Wellington Brass) and after his retirement, as a member of the Orpheus Choir. He was a playing member of the touring 1953, 1962 and 1974 National Bands of New Zealand and was later appointed a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order and served as president of the New Zealand Brass Bands Association. Long after his retirement, Norman commuted from Wellington for several months in 1989 to conduct the band following the death of Mervyn Waters. Norman described this period as a privilege, and conducting the band at Mervyn Waters’ funeral service in Christchurch Cathedral as an honour. Ever a gentleman, Norman Goffin was a distinguished Woolstonian, and his death in the late 1980s was mourned throughout the brass band movement in New Zealand and beyond.

**1952 - 1953 LOUIS R. FOX QSM**

 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/LouisFox.JPG width="101" height="128" align="middle"]] || A brilliant musician and performer on both cornet and violin, Louis Fox was already a successful brass band conductor, but. his tenure with Woolston was all too brief. Louis took over the baton at short notice in late 1952 and conducted the band to a creditable second place in the national championships of 1953 in Wanganui. His conductorship was marked by strict and regular rehearsal, putting his distinctive professional stamp upon the band. Louis Fox was an extremely popular and outgoing man, and many hoped that his tenure would continue. It was not to be, however, as available funds couldn’t match the salary Louis sought when the band’s 1953 AGM convened, and so Louis Fox’s talents were employed elsewhere in New Zealand and added to his high reputation. He was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in 1979, and died in 1989. ||

**1953 - 1954 F.A. (FRANK) JOHN**

 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/FrankJohn.JPG width="119" height="128" align="middle"]] || Frank was a brilliant trombonist, a member of the well-known South Australian family of brass musicians, and was appointed conductor in late 1953, in what was really a trial appointment at a difficult time in the band’s history. Woolston was still very much “Estall’s band”, and although Frank John proved to be a talented conductor, a placing at the bottom of the A Grade results in the 1954 national championship held in Christchurch - a blow to Woolston prestige - meant that his days were numbered. Frank John failed to win the confidence of the membership, and his appointment was terminated later that year. He died in 1965. ||

**1956 - 1959 D.S. (DAVE) CHRISTENSEN QSM**
Dave returned to the podium in early 1961, re-appointed on the recommendation of Tom Kirk-Burnnand, and took the Band to the national championships held in Auckland in 1961, Dunedin in 1962 and Wellington in 1963. He resigned from the Band in October 1963, having made a significant contribution to Woolston during preceding years both with the baton and as principal cornetist. Earlier elected to Life Membership, Dave was principal cornetist of the touring 1953, 1962 and 1965 National Bands, and after leaving Woolston played for Addington Brass for many years. Dave Christensen was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for his service to brass bands and the community, and lives in retirement in Christchurch.
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/DaveChristensen.JPG width="103" height="128"]] || Dave Christensen, champion cornetist and the band’s principal since moving to Christchurch from Dunedin some years before, took over the baton prior to the 1956 national championships in Invercargill. Aggregate points at that contest brought Woolston the championship once again. Dave held the conductorship until 1959, then again from 1961 to 1963 and Woolston gained placings in the national championships in each of these years. A major event in 1958 was the visit of H.M. The Queen Mother to Christchurch, involving the Band in the Royal Concert in which Dave Christensen featured as a soloist. During this period, Dave had the advice and assistance of T.J. (Tom) Kirk-Burnnand, who himself took up the baton in 1960, relieving Dave who returned to the principal cornetist role. ||

**1960 - 1961 T.J. (TOM) KIRK-BURNNAND**

 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/TomKirk-Barnnand.JPG width="99" height="128"]] || Tom Kirk-Burnnand was a “character”, known throughout New Zealand’s light music scene in his heyday, founder director of the Second World War Kiwi Concert Party, conductor, arranger and all-round musician. He took a close interest in Woolston after moving to Christchurch postwar and was a frequent visitor to the bandroom, becoming advisor to Dave Christensen and then succeeding the latter as conductor in 1960-1961. When Tom decided to retire, he recommended that Dave Christensen be re-appointed and so the latter took up the baton once more in early 1961. After Dave’s resignation in 1963, Tom again conducted the band for a period pending a new appointment. When Tom Kirk-Burnnand died in the late 1970s the band played for his funeral service, including at his express wish Tom’s favourite march **Knight of the Road.** ||

**1963 - 1966; 1968 - 1970 W.B. (BILL) STEWART**
Bill’s attitude to the task was most professional, and finding that the band lacked motivation and that much of the old “Woolston sound” had been lost, he set about rebuilding breadth of tone and not least, restoring commitment to the band from his players. Contest results under Bill’s baton were always placings rather than championship wins, but always consistent. After touring overseas with the 1965 National Band as a cornetist, Bill Stewart stood aside in 1966 for a new conductor following that year’s national championships in Dunedin. Following Brian Barrett’s resignation, Bill became conductor again in 1968. The band took part in the Pan-Pacific Arts Festival, held in Christchurch that year – **not** under Bill but at his suggestion, guest conductor K.G.L. Smith MBE, of 1953, 1962 and 1967 National Band fame, with euphonium champion Rodney Sutton as guest soloist. With Bill Stewart at the helm, the band achieved third placing at the national championships held in Christchurch in May of that year. His final national contest as conductor was the 1970 event in Dunedin. Bill Stewart made a fine contribution to the band as conductor, which many Woolstonians of his era consider to have been undervalued. He was one of the group of senior members who in 1965 actively sought a major sponsor, securing the backing and financial support of Skellerup Industries Ltd which was so vital and which continued for a quarter of a century, leading to the band becoming known to the Christchurch public for many years as “the Skellerup Band”. His was the inspiration behind a number of innovations, and the later Skellerup New Generation Brass competition of 1971 was his brainchild. Bill handed over the baton in 1970 to Mervyn Waters, and remained as a playing member for the following two national contests. Bill Stewart lives in retirement in Christchurch.
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/BillStewart.JPG width="101" height="128"]] || A native of Perth, Scotland, Bill came from a Salvation Army family, saw military service in the Band of 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment and after his discharge joined the Scottish CWS Band, where he was a member of the solo cornet rank. Emigrating to New Zealand and playing with both St Kilda and Invercargill Garrison Bands, Bill moved to Christchurch in 1962 and was a member of Woolston’s solo cornet rank, from which in 1963 he auditioned for the conductorship. Upon the advice of the prescient T.J. Kirk-Burnnand, Bill was the successful applicant, his first national championship being the Christchurch contest of 1964. ||

**1966 - 1967 BRIAN A. BARRETT Mus B. (Hons**).
Unfortunately for the band, Brian Barrett was offered an overseas teaching post and moved to Western Australia in 1967. Brian died soon afterwards – a huge loss to brass bands and music in general.
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/BrianBarrett.JPG width="100" height="128"]] || Brian Barrett, formerly of Hawera, a member of the 1953 National Band, graduate of the University of Canterbury and head of music at a local high school, was appointed to Woolston’s conductorship in 1966, making his mark immediately as a serious musician who intended to take the band back to the top of the contest table. He succeeded admirably during what was to be an all too short period. Calling for hard work from his players, Brian brought the band back to the fore in contest results, winning the national championship in 1967 in Wellington - the first win since 1956. Woolston’s 75th Jubilee celebrations which should have taken place in 1966 had been postponed, and were held in 1967 during Brian’s conductorship. ||

**1970 - 1989 MERVYN J. WATERS MBE FTCL**
Merv had an infectious laugh and ready sense of humour, and brought a dedication to his task as musical director, or “music director” (his preferred term) that was awe-inspiring. When appointed he represented a firm of wool merchants in Christchurch, but after a local vacancy occurred in the mid-1970s became an itinerant brass teacher for the Department of Education, a post in which Merv both reveled and excelled. Aspiring brass players showing potential were given private tuition and the best became members of the band. Some are members still, part of the Waters legacy to Woolston Brass. His first national contest was that of 1971 in Wanganui, when the band played the then radical **Spectrum** (Gilbert Vinter) as an “own choice” work. This set the seal on what was to follow that 1971 victory, a fitting memorial to the man and his achievements. As his reputation grew, Merv came to know most of the great men of brass, and was soon regarded internationally as one of their number. The band’s visit to the United Kingdom in 1975 brought Merv Waters great kudos, with a win in the Edinburgh Festival Invitation Brass Band Contest and fifth placing in the prestigious British Open Brass Band Championship. Contest successes continued apace, both in New Zealand and Australia, with the second of the band’s “Grand Slams” achieved in Hamilton in 1979, then with the Australian championship win in Mt Gambier in 1980, in the course of a three-week tour across Australia. Meanwhile, Merv Waters had toured extensively overseas as musical director of the 1974 and 1976 National Bands, and in the latter year was appointed MBE for his services to music. He went on to be awarded a Fellowship of the Trinity College, London in brass band conducting; his thesis a scholarly exposition of the technical aspects of brass instrumentation. Combined concerts in the Christchurch Town Hall auditorium by the band together with Christchurch’s Royal Musical and Harmonic Societies choirs were a feature of serious and sometimes not-so-serious music in the city in those years, the highlight for the band being participation in the Royal Concert of 1977, when Mervyn Waters was presented to Her Majesty The Queen. He was elected a Life Member of the band in 1980. Under the baton of Mervyn Waters, Woolston achieved many championship wins in New Zealand, together with contest successes in both Scotland (playing Bliss’s **Pageantry**) and Australia (**Volcano**) in 1980. The fifth placing in the British Open of 1975 is the highest yet achieved by a competing band from the Commonwealth. The test work for the British Open that year was Elgar Howarth's **Fireworks, for Brass Band**, with which the band was to take championship honours in Christchurch the next year, 1976. The band’s competitive record, much of it achieved under Mervyn Waters, has yet to be bettered by a New Zealand brass band.. His services in demand both in New Zealand and internationally, Mervyn Waters’ first priority was always Woolston Brass (during his term the band was sponsored by Skellerup Industries Ltd and known as “Skellerup Woolston”), and remained so for the rest of his life. Close behind in latter years was a love of Canterbury’s ski slopes, to which he and his wife escaped at weekends whenever possible. Merv was appointed musical director of a National Band in 1989 which had he lived was to have toured Japan and China. Immediately after the national championships of 1989 Merv undertook two days of intensive rehearsal with that band in Wellington, and on his return to Christchurch suffered the cardiac failure from which he failed to recover. (The 1989 tour was cancelled owing to his death and the political climate of the time.) The tragic loss of Mervyn Waters to the band and the city of Christchurch was marked by the congregation which filled Christ Church Cathedral to farewell a man of near genius who hugely expanded the Estall legacy bequeathed to the band Merv built the finest Woolston band of the era, led by example and never spared himself in the task of seeking excellence in all aspects of performance and presentation. His contribution to the band and city of Christchurch as a musician and teacher was immense. As with Dick Estall, **Mervyn Waters’ legend lives on.**
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/MervWaters.jpg width="92" height="128"]] || When Bill Stewart expressed a wish to retire as conductor in 1970, applications for the position were called for, the successful applicant being Mervyn Waters, known affectionately to everyone as “Merv”. He was to serve the band unstintingly until his untimely death in 1989. Merv Waters was diminutive in stature but an intellectual giant, and with the band’s reputation and history very much in mind – and being a disciple of the late Dick Estall – he quickly set about putting his own stamp upon the band – at the same time introducing newly composed contemporary works for brass band which tested his players, improved individual technique and therefore the band’s overall standard of performance. It was to be a golden era! ||

**1989 - 1996 K.G. (KEN) SMITH MNZM**
He toured New Zealand as a trumpet soloist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in the early 1970s, after an earlier visit to the USA and Canada, followed by a programme of solo recitals throughout Australia 1969-1981. Ken Smith was musical director of the 1985 National Band of New Zealand which toured the U.K. and Europe, and has served as an adjudicator of brass band contests in both New Zealand and Australia. Ken Smith became Woolston’s musical director in late 1989 following his retirement from the NSW Conservatorium of Music, and soon established an innovative regime where players were encouraged to participate in all manner of music-making, including forming groups of various sizes. At his suggestion a school of music was established to bring forward young players of promise, and although the band failed to profit from this enterprise, it was the forerunner of the highly successful Woolston junior bands which came afterwards. His personal focus on serious music, Ken was initially reluctant to adapt to the emphasis on competition which has always been a Woolston hallmark (the band has not missed a national championship contest in New Zealand since 1965), and under Ken’s baton the band’s sound changed from the former Estall-Waters breadth of tonal quality to a lighter style. Ken Smith’s many innovative and challenging arrangements from the classical repertoire became standard fare in the band’s concert and competitive programmes during his years as musical director.. The band’s centenary took place in 1991, marked by a special concert in the Christchurch Town Hall Auditorium and various commemorative functions during Queen’s Birthday Weekend, and a tour including a visit to Sydney (including a combined concert with the acclaimed Willoughby Band), followed by concerts in both Singapore and Hong Kong, all under Ken’s baton. Competitive success was initially slow under Ken Smith, then in Wanganui in 1993 Woolston regained the New Zealand championship, and did so again in fine style in Invercargill in 1994. A further visit to Sydney in 1996 under Ken Smith saw the band compete in the Australian Band Championships once again. Ken retired from Woolston’s conductorship in late 1996, after which he returned to Australia. He was later appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to brass bands.
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/KenSmith.jpg width="96" height="128"]] || Ken Smith, born in Westport and elder son of legendary brass band conductor K.G.L. Smith, was a youthful prodigy who became a virtuoso cornetist, winning the New Zealand cornet championship three years in succession in 1948-49-50. He left New Zealand for the United Kingdom and Fairey Aviation Works Band in 1950, returning in 1954 after establishing a formidable reputation in the musical world as a cornetist and trumpeter. Ken conducted St Kilda Brass for a period and later moved to Australia where he held a senior academic post at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music for many years. ||

**1996 - 2006 D.P. (David) GALLAHER BA,** FTCL, LTCL, Dip. Tchg.
With an impressive first-time-up win at the New Plymouth national contest of 1997, Dave established himself quickly as one of the leading conductors of his time. The band went on to achieve much during his tenure, not just in the concert || and competition arenas, but in the recording studio as well, the band’s landmark CD recordings ** Millennium ** (a much-aired work on Concert FM featuring entirely the works of New Zealand composers), ** ANZAC ** and ** Sacred ** providing permanent testament to Dave’s artistry. Following a championship win in Christchurch in 2000, Dave’s band travelled to the UK and the British Open Championship, but “Birmingham 2000” was not to be quite what “Belle Vue 1975” had been. Nevertheless, the band gained a creditable 12th placing amongst some of the world’s best. Dave was appointed Conductor of the 2003 and 2005 National Bands, the latter of which performed with great distinction to take third place at the inaugural World Brass Band Championships in Kerkrade, Holland. Dave’s distinguished career with Woolston was crowned with a hat-trick of New Zealand Championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. After a decade at the helm, Dave relinquished the role in 2006 to devote more time to his young, growing family. Taken from: []
 * [[image:http://www.woolstonbrass.org/images/DavidGallaher_001.jpg width="100" height="129"]] || A graduate of Otago University and a playing member of the band (and Deputy Conductor), Dave became Music Director in 1996 following Ken Smith’s retirement. He immediately introduced a structured rehearsal regime, a rigorous auditioning process and the formation of a Junior Band.