“MUSIC doesn’t have to be dramatic, it can be what you want it to be,” Canberra City Band conductor Major Geoff Grey asserted last night as he warned us to be very quiet, as everything was being recorded.

The occasion was the 89th anniversary concert of the band, an anniversary calculated on the basis that the original band was formed in 1925, although, as history shows, it followed the Great Depression by going to the wall for a time in the late 1930s.

Next year will be Canberra City Band’s 90th birthday, so history was very much on Grey’s mind as Grey introduced us to the longest-standing band member, baritone sax player Bob Wood, who claimed he might soon retire, though nobody seemed to believe it. Wood had joined in the early 50s and was still going strong, like the band.

Those with a sense of history recalled how the band had become Prime Minister Ben Chifley’s “baby” after an official visit to England in 1946 saw the later PM, A Bathurst boy to the core, so enjoying the bands there that on returning he said was a pity Canberra didn’t have. It did, but it was dormant at the time and with Chifley’s support, it was revitalised.

Another historical element on show last night was the venue itself, Albert Hall, long associated with the band. Although for recording purposes (Grey called it “a bold experiment in having a live recording”) it might not have been the ideal venue, it was obviously the most-loved one, if comments by the crowd at supper were anything to go by.

Last night’s performance began with a 20 minute set ranging from sacred music to that of Stevie Wonder by the John Agnew Band, (in Grey’s words a “leisure band”).

Formed in early 2008, the band honours the late educator and musician John Agnew who directed the Canberra City Band’s Junior Division for 11 years, and provides an opportunity for musicians to further develop – or rediscover – their musical abilities by providing a learning environment and contact with other musicians.

The substance of the concert was a lively and fresh performance by the full concert band, given depth by the placement of the percussion section far upstage away from Grey, giving a deep and resonant sound to all the performances.

In spite of Grey’s warning to the contrary, most of the music proved very dramatic indeed.

Among the highlights were the slightly unorthodox “Music for a Festival” by Philips Sparke, which brought out the complex talents of this large prizewinning band, many of whose musicians serve the wider Canberra community in other orchestras and ensembles.

Richard L. Saucedo’s “Cambrian Explosion” proved to be a colourful piece of environmentally-aware music, while US naval composer Donald W. Stauffer’s “Fugue and Swing” took us from a dignified opening to a big band style that was evidently fun to play.

In Alfred Reed’s “Second Suite for Band,” four pieces to different dance rhythms, it was all the audience could do to refrain from clapping, though the stern-faced (at that moment) Grey held his hand up to remind us that silence was golden in this concert.

The evening concludes with a rousing and very dramatic “Malaguena” in which the percussion let it rip.

This celebratory Canberra City Band performance allowed parts of the traditional orchestra not always highlighted in symphony concerts, in particular, the woodwind and trumpet sections, to take centre stage. I particular appreciated the fresh and original programming, which introduced unfamiliar music while also bringing to Canberra audience a lively and accessible form of music that would surely have warmed the cockles of Mr Chisholm’s heart.