HISTORY

The first recorded band in the history of Bairnsdale was a brass band. It was called "Redenbach's German Brass Band" led by Phillip Redenbach, a hop grower who lived in Bairnsdale. In the 1870's and the 1880's Redenbach's band became very popular, performing at many functions around the district. Every "New Year's Day" the band marched around the then Friendly Societies Ground which is now known as West Bairnsdale Football Oval.

In 1875 the first 'Bairnsdale' band operated and was known as the "Bairnsdale Brass Band" but only survived a short while before going into recess.

Mr. Paynes death.

In 1884 a brass band was formed to replace the earlier town band and was called the "Bairnsdale Municipal Band". The Bairnsdale Town Council purchased instruments for the band to hire which relieved some of the financial difficulty experienced in the past. Two notable bandmasters to lead the Bairnsdale Municipal Band were Mr Edward Greene and Mr. Thomas Hellings. Mr. Greene entered the band in many competitions as far away as Ballarat and led them onto victory several times.

Mr Hellings was the bandmaster to take over from Mr Greene and was a remarkable man. To save on expenses for the band he wrote most of the music. Although he played the cornet, he could also play every other instrument. In 1909 he started up the newspaper entitled the "Australian Band News". T.J Hellings left the band in 1922 when he sold the "Australian Band News" to Allans, a music store in Melbourne.

Another band similar to the Bairnsdale Municipal Band which functioned around that time was a Methodist Church band that was also led by Mr. Hellings. Apparantly all of the members in the church band were also in the Bairnsdale Municipal band.

In 1908 the Bairnsdale Brass Band was reformed under the direction of Mr. John White who also conducted Juvenile, State School Brass, Lindenow and Calulu bands. The juvenile band operated during the war years in an effort to keep spirits up amongst the local community. Before 1914 a Salvation Army operated, but like many other bands folded during the war years. Other bands have come and gone over the years all over the area like the Mossiface band, the Bruthen Band, the Lindenow Band, the Calulu band and the Bulamwaal Band.

After the war recess the Bairnsdale Municipal band reformed in 1918 under the new title of: "The Bairnsdale Citizen's band".

Bandmasters of the Bairnsdale Citizen's Band

The first band master to lead the Bairnsdale Citizien's band was Tom Young. He also owned a music shop in Main St. and had two sons Cecil and Lester who were competent cornetists. Under Mr. Young's direction the band would make Sunday trips to Lakes Entrance playing aboard the "S.S Gippsland".

Charles Swan was a prominent figure in the band's history spanning a 60 year association. He joined the boy's band as a youngster and went on to play with the Methodist Church Band. When this ceased to exist he went to play with the Municipal Band and continued to play after the amalgamation of the Bairnsdale Brass Band and the Bairnsdale Municipal band. He then went on to conduct the band on a number of occasions. He was an accomplished, well-developed cornet player.

F.G Williams took over from Charles Swan in 1923. After he arrived the performance of the band lifted and the committee and the players were impressed. This led to several public performances by the band.

During the second World War the band went into recess. While the war was going on Mr White formed a juvenile band to keep the interests up while the men were away. When the war was over the band was reformed. There was great public support for this, but there were financial difficulties.

Sidney Sellars was a previous playing member before being appointed bandmaster in 1948. Little is known about him except that he made considerable effort in reforming the band after the war recess and overcoming the band's financial difficulties at that time.

Stanley MacIntosh became bandmaster in 1953 and maintained that position for two years. He came from St Vincent de Pauls Orphanage and after leaving Bairnsdale continued his interest by leading the St. Vincent de Paul's Orphanage band.

Reginald George started music at the age of twelve and at the age of 20 won the award for champion cornetist in Tasmania. He served in the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. By trade he was a tailor and made the uniforms for the Mildura band's performance before the queen in 1952.

Sidney Davies was a school teacher at the Bairnsdale Technical school and was a member of the Bairnsdale Citizen's band at the time of his appointment. He played many instruments including the trombone, euphonium and the violin. He left Bairnsdale to further his career in education.

Neil Wilson came to Bairnsdale to teach music at Nagle College after a career as percussionist with Southern Command Military Band. His links with the school system saw an increase in the Junior membership many of whom still play with the band today. During his sixteen years with the Band a strong sense of community commitment developed that has led to the current curriculum of around thirty public performances per year.

Kees Dogger (pron. "Case") grew up in Bairnsdale and played in the Citizens Band during his youth. He finished his education in Melbourne and returned as a Music Teacher at Bairnsdale Secondary College. During the past seven years the emphasis has been placed on music education and development of the Band and the integration of the Junior, now known as the Training Band. Development of individual music skills is high on the agenda with a resulting change in the overall band performance.

Rod Thomas & Alan Jones shared the conducting duties in 2002 after the Band contested the "Nationals". Rod is our lead Cornet player and has decades of experience in Brass Bands and is also an excellent performer in many other genres of music. Alan is an excellent performer on Euphonium and is also a highly sought after performer in the Jazz scene. He has a terrific voice and can "tinkle the ivory's" just like Mozart would have if he had played jazz!

Kees Dogger has taken over the Bandmaster duties again at the start of 2003 and continues to the time of writing in June, 2005.