Port Macquarie Hastings Municipal Band has had success at the East Coast of Australia Championship in Newcastle recently.
On June 12, seven brass and concert bands competed for supremacy in their grades with acknowledged high-class performances.
The Port Band’s strong performance of Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E Flat lifted them above University of Newcastle Concert Band into the championship in C Grade – a satisfying moment for the players and Musical Director Glenn Moore.
The afternoon Festival of the Bands drew an appreciative, near-record crowd.
The big E was taken out by a local brass band.
As the only country band in this competition, it was gratifying for the Port Band to repeat its success of 2008, a spokesman said.