On Sunday 17th May the Daylesford Community Brass Band presented a sellout “Movie Music Matinee” at the Town Hall to an enthusiastic audience. As it says in the program “great film scores are not just background music; they enhance the story telling, evoke emotion and often outlive the films themselves”.
Under musical director Mark Lyall the band played stirring renditions of themes from films such as “Out of Africa”, “Jurassic Park” and “How To Train Your Dragon”.
Individual performances by Deputy Musical Director Sue Morris playing “Wandrin’ Star” on the trombone, Mark Anstey with “Under the Boardwalk” on the flugel horn and soprano soloist Larissa Davis singing “Nella Fantasia” received loud applause.
A lovely surprise – while the audience were enjoying a great arrangement of “Singing in the rain” the curtains parted and there were the gorgeous dancers from the Miss Anita Macedon Ranges Dance Studio singing and tap dancing with umbrellas. They later gave a great performance of “What Is This Feeling” from Wicked.
(Best dressed film characters David Hall as Maurice Chevalier and Irene Mooney as Mae West)
Master of Ceremonies Paul Carney, dressed as the Mad Hatter, kept the afternoon rolling along with raffles of hampers from local businesses and auction of vouchers from local restaurants, while Hagrid the Horrible, euphonium player Robert Ohlsen, told interesting and amusing anecdotes from films.
Acclaimed Daylesford soprano Christine Douglas judged the prizes for best dressed movie characters and best dressed table.
It was a wonderful afternoon, closed by a singalong of “All That Jazz” and a standing ovation for our excellent band, the enduring heartbeat of the Hepburn Community.
