Ararat City Band take to the stage with Stardust and The Mission next week
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Members of the Ararat City Band will take centre stage with a critically acclaimed touring show at the Ararat Town Hall next Friday.
The double-bill show includes Stardust, created and performed by Joel Carnegie, and The Mission, created and performed by Tom Molyneux. The two shows are stories about love, music and war, and all the things people leave behind.
Ararat City Band Secretary Amy Stevens said a group of around six brass instrument band members have been rehearsing for several months for the performance.
Ms Stevens said the players received the sheet music a while ago, rehearsing their parts separately before coming together a few weeks ago to merge their music.
“The group is really excited to be part of the show and is looking forward to performing next week with Tom and Joel,” she said.
The two shows are presented by Geelong-based The Space Company, which is touring them around the state, including the local brass band wherever they play.
Stardust tells the story of Col Brain, a professional trumpet/cornet player and bandmaster.
Before Col died, he stored all of his life’s possessions in a wooden dresser and locked it up, never to be opened again. So what was inside? Told through the eyes of his grandson, Joel Carnegie, herein lies the discovery of a time capsule of Australian musical life, in a heart-warming quest to uncover what Col wanted us to know about his life by the things he left behind.
The Mission tells the story of Allan McDonald, a “fighting Gunditjmara” man from south-west Victoria, who was one of the state’s first Indigenous soldiers to enlist for war. Allan fought at some of WWI’s most famous campaigns, including Gallipoli and Beersheba, only to be denied a soldier’s settlement on his return to Australia, and forced from his land at the Lake Condah Mission. So what drives someone to fight for a country that doesn’t even recognise them as a citizen? How do you keep fighting in an unjust world and why?
Stardust and The Mission will play at the Ararat Town Hall next Friday, July 26, from 7.30pm. Tickets are $29 ($19 concession) and are available at www.ararattownhall.com.au.