2023 New Zealand Brass Band Championships

Dunedin Town Hall, July 2023. The world’s oldest national band contest came back to Dunedin for the first time since 2010, and history was made in front of our cameras: Wellington Brass, under David Bremner, became the first band since the contest began in 1880 to win five consecutive A Grade titles, sweeping every discipline on the way. Adjudicator Tom Davoren called their Audivi Media Nocte “truly a landmark performance”. We just called it Saturday.

This is the complete record: every grade, the full placings and points, with our broadcast replays so you can watch any performance again. Results sourced from the official championships and the reports at 4BarsRest and Brass Band Results.

Watch the full broadcast

Four days in Dunedin, solos to street march. Each replay below is a full session, settle in.

Solos (Wednesday & Thursday)

Junior Champion of Champions & Invitational Slow Melody

Champion of Champions

The band contest

Open B Grade (Hymn & Test)

Open A Grade (Own Choice)

Open C Grade (Own Choice) & D Grade

Parade of Bands

A Grade

Adjudicator: Tom Davoren Set Work: Concerto No.1 for Brass Band (Derek Bourgeois)

The record-breaker. Wellington topped the sacred item, the Bourgeois and the own choice, with flugel star Brad Mancer taking Best Soloist on the test. North Shore pushed hardest for the second straight year, their basses named Best Section, while St Kilda’s Jamie Lawson took Best Principal Cornet.

Pos	Band	Conductor	Sacred	Test	Own Choice	Total
1	Wellington Brass	David Bremner	49.5	98	98	245.5
2	North Shore Brass	Harmen Vanhoorne	49.0	97	96	242.0
3	Woolston Brass	Tyme Marsters	48.5	95	94	237.5
4	Hamilton City Brass	Mason Elliot	45.5	91	93	229.5
5	NBS Nelson City Brass	Nigel Weeks	47.0	90	92	229.0
6	Ascot Park Hotel Brass	Dr Matthew van Emmerik	47.5	92	89	228.5
7	Brass Whanganui	Bruce Jellyman	46.5	87	91	224.5
8	St Kilda Brass	Alan Spence	45.0	88	90	223.0
9	Waitakere Auckland Brass	Grant Langdon	46.0	89	87	222.0

B Grade

Adjudicator: Tom Davoren Set Work: Journey into Freedom (Eric Ball)

Hutt City Brass reclaimed a title last won in 2011, with principal cornet Stephen Mosa’ati named Best Soloist on their own choice of Dances & Alleluias. Defending champion Auckland City won the own choice discipline with Cloudcatcher Fells but had to settle for second.

Pos	Band	Conductor	Sacred	Test	Own Choice	Total
1	Hutt City Brass	Matthew Stein	46.0	92	92	230.0
2	Auckland City Brass	Mark Close	45.5	89	94	228.5
3	Addington Brass	Adrian Dalton	44.0	86	88	218.0
4	Tauranga City Brass	Steven Thompson	44.5	87	86	217.5
5	Marlborough District Brass	Robin Randall	45.0	90	82	217.0
6	Kaikorai Metropolitan Brass	Ben Rickerby	43.5	83	85	211.5

C Grade

Glenroy Auditorium · Adjudicator: Mark Ford Set Work: A Little Light Music (Philip Wilby)

Woolston Concert Brass regained the title they last won in 2021 under tuba star and former multiple Champion of Champions Philip Johnston, topping two of the three disciplines.

Pos	Band	Conductor	Sacred	Test	Own Choice	Total
1	Woolston Concert Brass	Philip Johnston	43.5	90	91	224.5
2	Matamata Brass	Glenn Richards	42.0	86	89	217.0
3	North Shore Brass Academy	Andrew Leech	44.0	87	85	216.0
4	Te Awamutu Brass	Sarah Carroll	41.5	85	86	212.5
5	Rolleston Brass	Raynor Martin	42.0	83	87	212.0
6	Levin & District Brass	Mat Johnston	39.5	82	88	209.5
7	Upper Hutt Brass	Aaron Lloyd	41.0	81	87	209.0
8	Mosgiel Brass	Philip Craige	39.5	80	83	202.5
9	Nor’west Brass	Matt Toomata	40.0	81	82	203.0

Positions and points as officially published.

D Grade

Glenroy Auditorium · Adjudicator: Mark Ford Set Work: And my soul overflow! (David Chaulk)

Rangiora RSA Club Band took their first national title since 2014 under Dwayne Bloomfield, holding off New Brighton Silver, who topped the march with Slaidburn (and whose own fairytale would arrive two years later in Christchurch).

Pos	Band	Conductor	Sacred	Own Choice	March	Total
1	Rangiora RSA Club Band	Dwayne Bloomfield	84	83	84	251.0
2	New Brighton Silver	Cameron Lee	81	82	85	248.0
3	Ascot Park Hotel Auxiliary Band	Kathleen Herman	80	81	83	244.0
4	Buzzing Brass Wellington	Byron Newton	82	79	82	243.0
5	Upper Hutt Concert Brass	Hannah Neman	80	80	80	240.0

Solos & Parade

Champion of Champions: cornet star Kay Mackenzie of NBS Nelson City Brass took the Errol Mason Trophy with Damien Lagger’s Bad Spirit, ahead of former champions Mike Ford and Tyme Marsters. The Junior Champion of Champions went to Matt Donaldson, and the Invitation Slow Melody to Kevin Hickman. Both solo sessions are in the replays above.

Parade of Bands: grade honours to Woolston Brass (A), Marlborough District Brass (B), Te Awamutu Brass (C) and Buzzing Brass Wellington (D). Full replay above.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the 2023 New Zealand Brass Band Championships? Wellington Brass, conducted by David Bremner, won the A Grade with a clean sweep of all three disciplines, becoming the first band in the contest’s history (since 1880) to win five consecutive elite titles.

Where were the 2023 NZ Nationals held? At the Dunedin Town Hall and Glenroy Auditorium in Dunedin, in July 2023, the contest’s first return to Dunedin since 2010.

Who won the other grades? Hutt City Brass (B Grade, their first title since 2011), Woolston Concert Brass (C Grade) and Rangiora RSA Club Band (D Grade). Kay Mackenzie of NBS Nelson City Brass was Champion of Champions.

Where can I watch the 2023 NZ Nationals? Brassbanned’s full replays, including both halls, the Champion of Champions and the Parade of Bands, are embedded above, free to watch any time.

New to contesting? Read how brass band contests work, meet the instruments, and start at the very beginning with what is a brass band?

More championship replays

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