Proms 08
What a Performance!
By Grant Carr
All Photos by SGT Tim Jordan
This year’s Air Force Proms performance on 14 September was bigger, brighter and more spectacular than ever.
The Sunday afternoon programme was divided into halves with the first featuring the Central Band of the RNZAF and the second showcasing all four RNZAF bands massed together. Compere Kevin Keys kept the three hour show cracking along but the real star of the show had to be the Air Force’s Director of Music SQNLDR Owen Clarke who has once again put together an exciting and varied mix to make a very entertaining show with something for most musical tastes. The Air Force Proms is in its tenth year and has become a must-see Wellington event with each show arguably better than the previous one.
The programme was both opened and closed by members of the Air Force’s Maori Cultural Group. Then it was the nimble hands of CPL Grant Myhill on xylophone playing The Flyer. Next was a soaring and thrilling performance by guest soprano Karyn Adreassend singing Giacomo Puccini’s O Mia Babbino Caro. Lonely Beach was an evocative piece of music about the D-day landings with projected images of the landings and soldier’s faces serving to enhance the music’s impact.
Percussion ensemble Strike beat up a storm of rhythms and in the second half entertained us with their fire breathing antics.
The second half of the show featured more Proms favourites such as Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory, British sea shanties and, of course, Tchaivosksky’s 1812 Overture. And, like most Proms, the audience was invited to participate. With just over 120 musicians on stage, including invited musicians from local schools, this rich music was rousing indeed.
If you are in Wellington this time next year look out for the Air Force Proms. At a mere $15 a ticket the seats at the spacious Michael Fowler Centre for three hours of non-stop entertainment are a bargain.