19 January 2026
‘Backseat bandits’ take centre stage in AYO brass and percussion showcase
On Thursday 15 January 2026, brass and percussion participants of AYO’s National Music Camp took to the stage in Adelaide’s Elder Hall. ‘This was a chance for the ‘backseat bandits’ of the orchestra to take centre stage and show off their chops’ writes AYO Media and Communication 2026 participant, Mark Wilson, who reviewed the concert.
Walking into Adelaide’s Elder Hall, audiences were met with an unusual stage set-up. A menagerie of percussion instruments gathered at the front of the stage, surrounding an inconspicuous array of chairs and stands. As the excited chatter of AYO National Music Camp (NMC) participants and the general public quietened down, glimmers of burnished brass reflected the stage lights, and members of AYO’s NMC brass cohort took to the stage. It was the Brass and Percussion Concert, a chance for the ‘backseat bandits’ of the orchestra to take centre stage and show off their chops.
The brass were first on the program, opening with a moving performance of Pride by Andrew Aronowicz’s, this year’s AYO Media and Communication tutor. In a later stage-change interview with Media and Communication participant Amanda Wong, Aronowicz detailed the history of his work, originally composed in 2020 for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 50 Fanfares project, and designed as a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community. Conducted by AYO NMC tuba tutor Karina Filipi, Pride showcased the impressive blend of the AYO brass.
These skills were further demonstrated in the powerful Parsifal: Prelude and Transfiguration Music by Wagner, Matthew Hayam soaring across the ensemble on piccolo trumpet, nicely complemented by Nathan Herbert on timpani. A particular highlight was the moving rendition of Bruckner’s sacred motet, Locus Iste. Arranged and conducted by AYO trombone tutor Joshua Davies, the musicians performed with reverence, the final chord left suspended in the air – the organ at the back of Elder Hall seemed to reawaken from the overtones produced by the AYO brass ensemble. Participants and tutors alike also gave rousing performances of Catherine Likhuta’s delightfully sci-fi Long Journey from the Planet Zeon, and the third movement of Eric Ewazen’s virtuosic Symphony in Brass.
Drums controlled by breathing tubes, cabasas played in every conceivable way (including as a hairbrush), and four players crowding around one marimba were just some of the delightful moments from the percussion showcase. Jessie Montgomery’s Study No. 1 evoked the sound of groaning wind, Nathan Herbet, Bryn Wood, Matthew Arnold, and Felix Gilmour wowing in a canonic showcase of extended percussion techniques. Mark Ford’s Cabasa! was a crowd favourite, the comedic timings of Katrina Soares, Domenic Lamattina, Wood, William Smith, and Gilmour eliciting roars of laughter as they produced a symphony out of five cabasas. Ivan Trevino’s Watercolor Sun showcased the mallet skills of Smith, Soares, Lamattina, and Valdas Cameron, requiring them to carefully choreograph their movements around one marimba.
To end, the brass returned to the stage, joining the percussion for an epic showing of John Williams’ Duel of the Fates, conducted by AYO Trumpet tutor Sarah Butler. Butler, conducting with an inflatable sword, corralled the mighty forces in an entertaining and dramatic performance. Frightening drums and ‘forceful’ horns capped off what was a highly entertaining and impressive showcase of the AYO’s brass and percussion.