Banding together for a great cause

On Saturday 11 June, Auckland City Corps was packed to bursting with people ready for an evening of music to raise funds for The Salvation Army Canterbury Earthquake Appeal.

Auckland Fellowship Brass hosted the evening, with North Shore Brass as their guests. With compère Major Graeme McMurdo, the evening was filled with good humour as well as good music. A mix of musical styles was heard, including ‘Toccata in D Minor’ and ‘Shine as the Light’ from North Shore Brass and Auckland Fellowship Brass playing ‘Praising’, ‘Ein Feste Burg’, and ‘Ask!’

The main focus of the evening was, of course, concern over the devastation caused by the earthquakes in Christchurch, which was amplified when Auckland Fellowship Brass played the Crusader rugby team’s theme song ‘Conquest of Paradise’ while the audience viewed a Powerpoint display of photos of Christchurch, before and after the quakes, followed by images of The Salvation Army working hard to provide relief and comfort to the Cantabrians. During this item, members of North Shore Brass moved around the congregation with Red Shield buckets, collecting for the appeal.

Near the end of the evening, presentations of sizeable donations to The Salvation Army Canterbury Earthquake Appeal were made. Transpower presented a cheque for $10,000 and Opus presented a cheque for $2000. Keith Patey, Bandmaster of Auckland Fellowship Brass and Maintenance Manager at Transpower, received the cheques on behalf of The Salvation Army. The evening raised over $15,000 for the earthquake appeal.