New Brighton Silver Band – Christchurch, New Zealand

The Band marched Current and Ex-Servicemen and Women, Police, Fire Service, Army Cadets, Schools, Scouts, Guides and Community groups down to the New Brighton Cenotaph for the New Brighton RSA ANZAC Day Service, with hundreds turning out to remember the fallen and the men and women still serving.

It’s a great honour to once again be part of this very important day.

Our Band has been part of this special day from the very first ANZAC Day all those years ago.

Lest we Forget

We have a busy year planned this year, and we were so proud to again be part of this great concert series in this beautiful old Band Rotunda to kick off the season.

In Lachlan’s absence, Jill puts them through their paces as comes down and lens a hand.

The Band hasn’t had a junior/learner Band for about 15 years, so it’s great to see some new Learners coming through.

Christmas Carols and St Faiths Church New Brighton.

Christmas time last year the New Brighton Silver band joined the congregation of St Faiths Church in New Brighton for the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols.

St Faiths Church is the Anglican Parish Church in New Brighton. It is a traditional older style stone church.

We are not sure as to the actual year St Faiths, along with the New Brighton Silver Band began this service so we decided to do a little research into the service itself the band’s involvement with it.

One of the band members joined in 1960 and the service was well established at that time. We think it probably goes back approximately 70 years.

We keep to the service tradition with one of our band members, Nadine, singing the first verse of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ unaccompanied.

Unfortunately, St Faiths stone church did not fare well in the Christchurch earthquakes of 2011. The church was closed for repairs. However, we used the church hall or another nearby church to keep the tradition going.

Then along came covid and inside services were stopped so we joined up for an outside carol singing and barbecue.

Now the repairs are complete. This lovely old church has been restored to its former glory with everything in pristine condition including the stunning stained glass window above the altar.

The Service itself has an interesting history.

Up until the middle of the 18th century traditional Christmas Carols were not sung in churches. Choristers went around the streets to parishioners’ homes and serenaded them. In 1878 the Salvation Army instituted the idea of the Brass band playing Christmas Carols and the tradition that most of us remember was started.

In 1880 Bishop Benson of Truro Cathedral in Cornwall held a Christmas Eve service in which carols were sung along with readings from the scriptures. This was done to entice people out of the pubs to come and sing traditional carols. It proved very popular, and the service was soon taken up in other cathedrals.

The modern Service ‘Nine Lessons and Carols ‘began at Kings College Cambridge in 1918. The Dean, Eric Milner-White, saw the need to raise the mood of a somber nation following the losses of the Great War. He upgraded the old service, along with the world-renowned Kings College Choir, to meet this need. It was a great success. Soon the BBC broadcast it via radio and later TV to a world-wide audience. Churches throughout the Commonwealth and America began to use the service.

This service, along with the ANZAC parade are the two most important playouts on the band calendar. Both have long histories and are an integral part of the band’s close ties with the community.

Grant Newby