Victorian Bands' League in Yarraville, Victoria | Non-profit organisation

Victorian Bands' League

Locality: Yarraville, Victoria

Phone: +61 3 9362 0200

Address: 2/157 Hyde Street 3013 Yarraville, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.vbl.org.au

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21.01.2022 The VBL is working hard with other members of the Victorian music community to advocate for a return of music to our schools and communities. Please make sure you 'like' the below page to stay up to date with the latest news.

21.01.2022 The Daylesford Community Brass Band celebrates 158 years of service to our community. Enjoy!

21.01.2022 In this weeks #FlashbackFriday, another one of those suburban Eisteddfods is going to be highlighted. The VBL Library & Archive holds a few of these smaller programs and the Heidelberg Eisteddfod from 1952 is one of them. This was held between the 3rd of October - 10th October and featured a strong field of entries in the Solo & Party events, and it also featured sections for C & D grade bands. Interestingly, a number of the entries in the Solo & Party sections (above the age of 18) seem to have come from the top A grade bands at the time. And in the junior sections, there was a tussle between the Hyde Street and East Kew Central schools. In the C & D Grade band sections, some of the bands made the trip from country towns. No doubt many bands people will recognize the names in this program.

19.01.2022 Congratulations to Brian on this well deserved honour!

18.01.2022 1934 was the year the Duke of Gloucester and the Band of His Majesty's Grenadier Guards visited South Street! This was the year the South Street band contest was titled the "South Street "Centenary" Contest", but in a historical twist, this was the centenary of when the first European settlement was established in Victoria at Portland. Still, the visit of a British Royal and band was a cause for great celebration. Held in the VBL Library & Archive is an original program of t...he 1934 band contests, which is the subject of this weeks #FlashbackFriday. They were held over the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of November and involved bands from all over Victoria, one from Hobart, and the Woolston Brass Band from Christchurch, NZ. Four grades were contested. The Band of His Majesty's Grenadier Guards had a special billing at a concert on the 1st of November. Bands had to wait a long time for results as they weren't to be announced until 10pm on the 3rd of September - after the fireworks display at the City Oval. See more

18.01.2022 VBL Library & Archive Community Band COVID Collection Project Dear Bands and Band Members,... The Victorian Bands’ League recognises that all bands and band members have made significant sacrifices in 2020 to their music-making through the cancellation of rehearsals and performances. It has been a difficult time for many, yet, as we have seen, bands have proved themselves to be inventive, adaptable and resilient while making use of the technology of the day to stay connected. The Victorian Bands’ League Library & Archive is wishing to document the life of bands and band members while under the COVID lockdowns as the experiences will be useful for future research and interested band people. The Archive would be seeking digital files which could include (but are not limited to): - screenshots of Zoom meetings/rehearsals - Digital copies of flyers or advertising relating to cancelled performances - pictures of practice - pictures or videos of the 2020 Anzac day commemorations (links can also be sent) - small sound files/videos - written experiences of band members or bands (notable memories, feelings, music-making) - any other experiences related to community bands during these strange times. These files would be contributed with the knowledge that they may be used by the VBL for social media or on the VBL website and will be stored for research purposes. There is also a possibility certain files would be contributed to local history sections of Victorian libraries if requested by the library. The files would be stored in a secure cloud. The following link to a Google document details how files are to be contributed and also detail the understanding the contributor has with the VBL over the use of the files. The VBL Library & Archive welcomes the contribution of bands and band members to this project. Any enquires can be directed to [email protected] Community Band COVID Collection Project - Information Document: https://drive.google.com//1doEi_QhxOZxplx1ZeK3nG56Jd/view

18.01.2022 In the early 1900s, Australia was blessed to have bands visit from overseas. Besses o' th' Barn Band, the Sousa Band, the Belgian Band, and various British Military bands all made the long journey and presented concerts wherever they went. It is perhaps lucky that in the VBL Archives we hold various programmes from the day, so for this weeks #FlashbackFriday here is the programme of a concert involving the visiting Royal Marines Band of H.M.S. "Renown", the Victorian Returne...d Soldiers and Sailor Memorial Band and the Victorian Railways Military Band. The 'Green Mill Dance Theatre' was a large venue that used to be on the site now occupied by the Victorian Arts Centre. As can be seen in the programme, some of the works are easily recognizable, others, not so much. It looks like operatic arrangements were the theme along with some marches. The concert was for a worthy cause and no doubt it would have been well-attended. Out of the bands that played here, the Royal Marines Band Service is certainly famous and renowned around the world for their music and discipline. The two Victorian bands were possibly less well-known, but I am aware that the Victorian Railways Military Band was still in existence right up to the 1980s - there are some bands people around who used to play in this ensemble. I'm not exactly sure whether the Vic. Returned Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Band is the same band that is/became the R.S.L. Band in Melbourne but I'm also sure that someone might know. this historical story.

18.01.2022 The band sections at the Royal South Street Eisteddfod have always been famous, but there have been times where it has been forced into recess due to World Wars and other circumstances. So it was in 1948 that the South Street band sections were reinstated and in the VBL Library & Archive, we hold an original contest poster from this year. This weeks #FlashbackFriday highlights the 1948 contest which attracted 29 bands from Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales across all four grades. The winners of each grade were: Hawthorn (A Grade), Kingsville & Yarraville (B Grade), Maryborough (C Grade) and South Australian Police (D Grade). A full list of results can be accessed on the Royal South Street results database: https://results.royalsouthstreet.com.au//1948-10-30-brass-

18.01.2022 We would like to congratulate all the performers who participated in the Champion of Champions events for 2020 as part of the Victorian State Solo & Ensemble Championships. We heard many excellent performances made all the more impressive by the challenging circumstances we are in. Congratulations to all our winners! Watch all the performances here: https://bit.ly/2HzXQXD

17.01.2022 The Victorian Bands' League would like to congratulate the Air Force Band on reaching this milestone.

17.01.2022 RIP The VBL extends its condolences to the City of Greater Dandenong Band, family and friends of Bruce Collard.

17.01.2022 Never underestimate the value of vintage postcards, especially the ones with bands on them! While the VBL Library & Archive does not have an extensive collection of vintage band postcards, we are lucky enough to hold four which actually tell a basic chronological story of one of our greatest bandsmen & conductors, Harry Shugg. As most of us know, Harry Shugg started his band life in the town of Geelong before undertaking the conducting position at the then Malvern Tramways Ba...nd from 1915-1946. He had an astonishing career as a performer, conductor and adjudicator and after finishing at Malvern he continued conducting and adjudicating bands in NSW and Queensland. This weeks #FlashbackFriday shows snippets of his conducting life through our four postcards. Band postcards offer us some important historical information such as names of bands, locations, competition results, uniforms and instruments. These postcards are no different. The first one is of the Geelong Harbour Trust Band in 1910 right after they won the C and B grades at South Street. The second & third postcards are of the Malvern Tramways Band in 1921 and 1924. The postcard from 1921 is special as it includes a handwritten note on the back from Harry Shugg with Christmas wishes. Re the back of the 1924 postcard, this tells us the competition winnings of the MTB to that date. The fourth postcard is one I find interesting as it shows Harry Shugg conducting the early A.B.C. Military Band in a recording studio around 1931. The common perception is that the A.B.C. Military Band started in 1933 however some newspaper articles indicate that it started a few years earlier with different conductors before the A.B.C. formalised its operation and made it a more permanent ensemble.

16.01.2022 Four bands, meeting four times in four suburbs over the course of two months. Who thought up this concept? This weeks #FlashbackFriday explores this unique contest. In the VBL Library & Archive, there are many competition result books that were handwritten. The earliest surviving book dates from 1939 - 1951 and contains details on competitions that took place during the Second World War, many that we did not know about previously, and obviously while South Street was in reces...s. This competition is unique in the book. Four bands - Advent Brass, Caulfield Citizens', Coburg Central and Moorabbin Municipal took part in what was called a "Group Contest". They competed in the suburbs of Coburg (21/09/1941), Bentleigh (05/10/1941), Yarraville (19/10/1941) and Caulfield (09/11/1941) and played the same sections in each meeting. The page here is fairly detailed with scores and locations. No doubt this contest would have provided some interest. Although I'm yet to find out if the Trove archive has any more details. This is just another piece of unique Victorian band history and another of those suburban and regional competitions that took place during the Second World War.

16.01.2022 A bit of Victorian Band history from the Public Records Office Victoria (PROV). The Victorian Railways Band, which was once known as the Newport Workshops Band, was one of the more famous ensembles in the Victorian band movement. It was in the 1970s when the VR Band was enticed across to Oakleigh to become the reformed Oakleigh City Band. The Mace in this picture is still in the possession of the Oakleigh City Band as an important historical item although apparently it is not used for marching anymore due to its weight. #GoodBanding #VictorianBands

15.01.2022 Congratulations to the Band Association of New South Wales on this achievement. Happy Birthday! #GoodBanding

15.01.2022 Great #isoband work from Whitehorse Brass with this project! #GoodBanding #VictorianBands

15.01.2022 More great work from our bands in isolation. #VictorianBands #GoodBanding

14.01.2022 It was great to see so many pictures and stories of bands participating in their local Australia Day commemorations, even under some COVID restrictions. It was also great to see some of our bands' people once again receiving recognition with Australia Day Honors and awards from their local communities - congratulations to all. Would it surprise people to know that nothing much has changed regarding bands participating in Australia Day events? While the date of Australia Day... has moved around over the years, and the purpose of the day has changed (Victoria moved Australia day to the 26th of January in 1931), there has always been some involvement from bands. For this week's #FlashbackFriday I've done some delving into Trove and have uploaded some articles mentioning bands that were involved in Australia Day in the early years. Five of the articles refer to Australia Day in 1915 where the day was held on July 30th and involved raising money for our troops overseas. Bands were involved either by playing at fairs, leading processions, or presenting concerts. The other two articles are from a bit later, 1945 and 1951. In 1945, numerous bands were engaged throughout the City of Melbourne and played in each park. In 1951, the City of Heidelberg was pleased to have engaged two bands to play at their Australia Day ceremony in 1952.

14.01.2022 Back in the day, and as they are now, band newsletters were important methods of communication to members and friends, aside from what was also reported in the newspapers. For this weeks #FlashbackFriday, the displayed items are two editions of the newsletter "Bandage" published by the Caufield Citizens' Band in the early 1950s. These two newsletters, while tiny, were discovered in amongst other papers at the VBL office while clearing up and are now part of the VBL Library & ...Archive. We can see in these newsletters some very typical band news - including a dig at the VBL & NBCA over contest rules! Caulfield Citizens' Band claim to have had one of the longest-running band newsletters and to have set a trend amongst bands in the south-east of Melbourne. I'm not going to dispute this claim (for the time being). Nevertheless, it's great to read these little snippets and see what a typical band was up to during this time. So how long has your band had a newsletter and if it is still published, do you send it out electronically?

14.01.2022 ...and they're off and racing, and over the past years and decades, our bands have been off to the races as well! This weeks #FlashbackFriday comes in the middle of Victoria's Spring Racing Carnival, which makes it a perfect opportunity to highlight band activities at race tracks and meetings. Of course, most of the time our bands were at the races to provide some musical entertainment. Bands that were located close to race tracks were also blessed with some official capacity... - as can been seen in the letterhead of the Caulfield District Band of which were under engagement to the Victorian Amateur Turf Club (V.A.T.C.). Bands across Victoria also had their share of race meetings which are detailed in the small samplings of articles from the Trove archive. Sometimes, the bigger race meetings included numerous bands. The large race meeting at Caulfield held on the 2nd April 1917 involved the; Victorian Police Band, Railways Military Band, Malvern Tramways Band, Caulfield City Band, Caulfield District Brass Band and the 48th Infantry Band. Or, out in the country, a single band was all that was needed such as at the Carngham races on 10th December 1914 that involved the Berringa Brass Band. And then there are the reminisces of bandsmen. Bandsman John Vosti of the Essendon Brass Band, who's life was partly detailed in the book "Bandsman Vosti's Diaries" (Lenore Frost, 2012), was a keen attendee at race meetings and also played with the Essendon Brass Band at various events. Please enjoy the articles and pictures.

14.01.2022 Entries close in 2 weeks!

14.01.2022 In the short space of years that the VBL Library & Archive has been open, it has been fortunate to receive some significant donations of material from individuals. In this weeks #FlashbackFriday, I'm highlighting some of the material that was donated to the Archive by the late John Ellis, a former Cornetist of the South Melbourne City Band. Aside from his life as a bands person, John had a remarkable life as a photographer, music educator and musician. His collection of phot...ographs is held at the University of Melbourne as he was not only extremely active in left-wing causes, he took the time to document & photograph every protest relating to these causes. He also taught recorder and guitar at the Melbourne Conservatorium. John also spent a significant amount of time as a member of the South Melbourne City Band which he joined as a junior member and progressed up the ranks. When I met him a couple of years ago, his memory was failing but he could still recall details of trips to Ballarat and other places, names of famous bands people (he knew the Philpot family very well), and told me stories of the antics of his drummers who liked to introduce jazz rhythms while marching - and raised the ire of strict Drum Majors! John's son played with the Moorabbin Brass Band in the 70s and some of the pictures are of his son with Moorabbin. The Archive is very privileged to have received the collection of material from John, including many pictures and a written document of his memories of the band. Here is a scan of his earliest certificate, a picture of the South Melbourne City Band and pictures showing some of the activities of the band.

13.01.2022 This weeks #FlashbackFriday is highlighting the famous "Australian Championship Contest" which was held in Sydney in late January & early February 1938. This contest was held in conjunction with the "Sesqui-Centenary" of Australia (150 years). One of the more notable parts about the contest was the quality of information contained in the programme and yearbook, of which the VBL Archive holds a copy. This remarkable book contains a wealth of historical information (for the tim...e) and invited contributions from eminent bands people from all over Australia as well as reports from each State Association & New Zealand. While I haven't posted the whole book here, I have posted certain pages relating to Victorian bands and the forward written by Robert McNally which is an insightful read. I can say that the photo of the VBL Executive from 1937 is not at all like the current executive! The whole book has been scanned as a PDF and can be sent if requested. See more

11.01.2022 I'm sure most people realise that 'back in the day' competition administrators did not have the luxury of digital devices so they did everything by hand (or typewriter). Thankfully, these results largely survive and within the VBL Library & Archive, we hold several large books full of results from competitions past. In this weeks #FlashbackFriday the results displayed here come from a variety of separate pages or articles of results that were found inside a large competition ...book which holds results from 1939-1951. It wasn't all about South Street. Indeed, competitions were held throughout the State and in numerous locations. South Street went into recess during the 2nd World War but that didn't stop many other smaller competitions taking place, as can be seen in the pictures below. The results displayed here date from 1940-1951 and although they don't reflect all the competitions that took place, they do show how local events were held and which bands competed. This is just another part of the rich history of banding in Victoria. This is the last #FlashbackFriday post for this year. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading some of the histories and I thank people for the comments. I look forward to posting more on VBL and Victorian band history next year.

11.01.2022 More great #isoband work with this collaboration between City of Greater Dandenong Band, Glenferrie Brass, singer Danielle Matthews and facilitated by Skunkworks Productions. #GoodBanding #victorianbands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRjWoQv6JWE

11.01.2022 Join us as we announce the Juvenile, Junior and Open Brass Champion of Champions for 2020 TODAY! Junior: https://youtu.be/Bsj7dvA2ph8 1:15 PM AEDT Juvenile: https://youtu.be/4hDeosU3_UQ 2:15PM AEDT Open: https://youtu.be/XVp5RsTmFiE 3:15 PM AEDT ... Miss the Woodwind Champion of Champions? View anytime here: https://youtu.be/EOG9dcR0-xk

10.01.2022 Join us as we announce the Juvenile, Junior and Open Woodwind Champion of Champions for 2020 in our online concert premiering live on YouTube at 3:15PM AEDT today! Watch here: https://youtu.be/EOG9dcR0-xk Can’t join us at 3:15PM? You can watch any time you like on YouTube after the concert. ... Watch the Brass Champion of Champions on Sunday 25 October.

09.01.2022 In decades past, it is evident that many brass bands relied on subscriptions to keep them going, alongside any funding they could get from local councils. It wasn't an easy task gaining funding, and many bands sent collectors out and about to solicit money from the local community. For this weeks #FlashbackFriday, here is but one example of how bands went about achieving this - and the disagreements that sprung up around the practice. This letter from the Richmond City Conte...st Band has been dated by the Richmond & Burnley Historical Society as being written in 1917 or 1918 and was found in amongst other papers at the VBL office - now part of the VBL Archive. This is an interesting example given that there were two bands in the municipality trying to do the same thing, but not associated with each other. It isn't the first time I've come across a disagreement like this. In 1927 and again in 1937, many letters were written into newspapers regarding the fundraising activities of the Malvern City Band, of which there was also misinformation contributed about the funding of the much more powerful Malvern Tramways Band. Back to the Richmond Band, aside from this letter, newspaper articles, South Street results and a couple of trophies, there is not much to indicate they existed as they went defunct around 1930. In 1926 the Richmond bandroom, which was located behind the Richmond Town Hall, was burnt to the ground and much of their music, uniforms and instruments were lost in the fire.

08.01.2022 Join as at 3:15PM for the announcement of results. Can't make it then? Rewatch at any time on YouTube. https://youtu.be/D9ymB1H36Yo

05.01.2022 Watch performances from the Victorian State Solo & Ensemble Championships 2020! https://bit.ly/33KBQR8 Join us tomorrow Sunday 27 September at 3PM AEST for the live result announcement.

04.01.2022 As well as bands people being recognised in the Australia Day honours, we also have bands people being recognised by their local communities and councils. Congratulations Kees Dogger.

04.01.2022 Hi Everyone I've got some old brass band music to pass on - please share to anyone interested: LARGE LIBRARY OF ANCIENT MUSIC FOR BRASS BAND Hello Everyone I ha...ve a large collection of antiquarian brass band music that I need to liquidate. There is a large variety of published works that would be of interest to collectors and those interested in brass band music from the 19th century and early 20th century periods. I recall that there are sets of parts published in Australia in the 19th century (including works by Bulch) and some popular song arrangements by Robert McAnally, amongst other material. There is no catalogue list available - it’s a lucky dip. There are 8 large boxes, pickup from Geelong or arrange your own shipping. Please email enquiries to [email protected] Thanks See more

03.01.2022 The Victorian Bands' League has always enjoyed a close working relationship with the bodies that administer championship events and Eisteddfods in Bendigo. So it is no surprise that in amongst our archival material is a program from one of the Bendigo Easter Championship events. For this weeks #FlashbackFriday we have this Bendigo program from 1950 where nine bands competed in C and D grades. Unusually for these kinds of programs, the inside of it does not list the order of bands that would be playing as they are subject to a draw. Fortunately, we do have the results of that contest in one of our handwritten competition books (1939-1951) of which I have also posted the relevant pages. No doubt some people might remember this contest.

02.01.2022 In this very strange year we are having, today is the Grand Final public holiday in Victoria. So for this weeks #FlashbackFriday it is appropriate to highlight some of the many interactions our bands have had with various facets of football. From playing at grounds for the finals, entertaining crowds at local games, and even some personalities who, in a measure of community spirit, gave as much to football as they did to bands. The articles below are only a very small sample or these interactions. Four of them are collected from the Trove archive and the fifth is from the VBL Archives. Details of each article are in the descriptions. Go Richmond/Geelong!

02.01.2022 This weeks #FlashbackFriday comes courtesy of an article published in the 'Sporting Globe' newspaper on Saturday 25th September 1937. The 1930s were a time when the VBL put on yearly massed bands displays, although sometimes there were two in a year. I've previously posted a flyer from the parade and display from 1933. This parade was to take place on Sunday 26th September and apparently involved 600 bands people, marching from the city to Olympic Park in individual bands, an...d presenting a grand display. As can be seen in this article, special mention was made of some of the leading brass bands of the day, Melbourne Fire Brigade & Hawthorn. Interestingly, the Prahran City Band was to present a display of Scottish Folk Songs arranged by J. Booth Gore in combination with the Melbourne Highland Pipe Band. No doubt this would have been another well-attended event and a feast of brass band music. See more

02.01.2022 Vale June Lofts. Our thoughts are with her family at this sad time.

01.01.2022 Congratulations to Frederick Treble from Maryborough City Brass Band on being awarded an OAM today!