Our Story

The Gawler Town Band has an incredibly rich history, spanning over 160 years, that continues to deepen each day.

In 1860 Philip Cheek, flautist, tenor horn player and conductor of the Tod Street Methodist Choir, formed the original Gawler Town Band. Owing to choir commitments, after a year or two he passed control of the band to 25-year-old William Riggs, a clarinettist and violinist. From that time on the group became known as Riggs’ Gawler Band, which distinguished it from another local band formed in 1861. The renamed band functioned for another sixty years. It soon proceeded to fulfil many engagements and before long established a fine reputation for musical performance. Riggs’ Gawler Band rendered services free of charge for numerous events, functions and causes, and became a local byword. In a reflection of Phillip Cheek’s and William Riggs’ multi-instrumental skills, the GTB is now a Concert Band, with woodwind instruments (and a cello) and percussion as well as the traditional horns.

William Riggs retired from the conductorship in 1881. After his retirement, his son John P Riggs succeeded to the position. Under his leadership the band continued its established practice of serving the community.

The Riggs’ Band contested over a span of six years (1901-1906). Their achievements:

In the early 1900s, the Riggs’ Band and Phoenix Brass Band played selections at the Town Hall and took collections in aid of the poor in the town and the neighbourhood.

In 1905 John P Riggs resigned after 43 years of association with the band, 20 of them as conductor. and Sidney Riggs was the new bandmaster.

In 1921 the Riggs Band and the Phoenix Brass Band merged to become the Gawler and District Band, as the First World War had taken its toll through enlistments and reduced the capacity of brass groups to function independently.  HL Marsh became the conductor of the amalgamated band.  The Gawler and District Band once again competed in contests in 1924 and 1930-1936.  With the Depression and the Second World War, Gawler musicians again had more to worry about than their embouchure for a number of years, and the Band went into recess.

In 1957, the Gawler Council proposed to sell the Band’s instruments for lack of use.  John Chambers, Dick Kneebone, Bob Hutchins, Albert Baker, Bert Hutchins and Ralph Chambers called a meeting in the Foresters’ Hall (now a pharmacy), attended by twenty-four people interested in re-forming the Gawler Band.  Roy Wilcox was appointed conductor of the revived combination, now re-named the Gawler Town Band.  By 1961, twenty-eight players were registered. The band then contested again in 1961 and 1962.

Roy Wilcox retired as bandmaster in 1966, to be succeeded by Bert Hutchins. The Hutchins family played a big part in the Gawler Band throughout much of the 20th Century.  From the late 1930s up to the 1980s five Hutchins brothers (Herb, Arthur, Bert, Hector and Percy) played in the band. Bert played in the band from the late 1930s and conducted the band until his death in 1981, when he was succeeded by his son Peter.  Peter was succeeded by Mike Ward and Maddy Sheridan, and Bruce Raymond fitted leadership of the Band into his busy schedule for many years, until personal issues forced him to step down.  Neil Edwards took the baton between 2015-2017, with support from Bruce and Conor Roche, until Conor took over as Bandmaster in 2018, bringing his youthful enthusiasm to the role.

Carols 2017 was a success, with the band playing as well as it ever has.  The setting sun made reading the music a challenge, but the Fanfare and Processional worked very well.  Daniel Hurst and Kaylah were named Bandspeople of the Year at the dinner the next Monday.

The Band opened 2018 supporting the Australia Day ceremony to acclaim, and attended the Tour Down Under only to be blown away by the wind.  Not to be daunted, the Band played at the Relay for Life, although several of its members were participating in the event: Nicki Ryan was on the organising committee, and Josh Ryan, Kate Humbler, Brownwyn Humbler and Kieran Roche all walked in support of the cause. Josh also played the bugle calls at the ANZAC Day service 2018.  As well as playing the usual anthems and processionals, the Band accompanied Genaro Manella and the singers from Xavier College in Genaro’s original compositions Grandfathers Hat and Stand. The band played at the Hahndorf Band Festival again in 2018.  Although very thin on the ground (more a chamber ensemble than a full band!), we made up in passion and musicality what we lacked in numbers.

The 2018 Colonial Dancers’ Ball was well received, with the Band joining the dancers for the Lancers set.  We were joined for this job by Joe from the Maltese Band, on trumpet, and a good night was had by all. And in October 2018, the Band re-instituted the tradition of an Annual Concert, showcasing its full repertoire from solemn to rocking.  Frank Miller was the MC, with Ryan Mason on vocals and Alex demonstrating his newly-developed percussion skills.  After that, the Band had bookings at the Gawler Fair (3 November) and Remembrance Day (11 November); busked at Gawler Green on 1 December; and played for the Greenock Carols on 14 December.  Elaine Garrett provided the bugle calls for Remembrance Day, with a flawless performance that suitably honoured the fallen. The Band closed 2018 with a great turn-out at the Gawler Carols on 15 December, supporting a number of vocalists and showcasing its skills.  From nine people at Hahndorf, the Band had 29 on stage for this night (with only one ring-in), its best showing for some while, and the sound reflected the strength of the numbers.  The Band played several traditional carols, as well as some wonderful arrangements by Bruce Raymond (including a powerful version of Ode to Joy).  Marie Wohling was named Bandsperson of the Year at the Christmas dinner the next night.  Speeches by MD Conor Roche and president Peter Ryan reflected the effort that everyone had made in a very busy year.

2019 began early and proved to be a very busy year. It began with a job at Movies in the Park in January, quickly followed by Australia Day.  While we were lacking a few players at the movies, we had six trumpets for Australia Day (as well as all the others), with Cameron sitting in on drums. In March, we participated for the first time in the Playford 3+ Competition, with a brass trio, clarinet quartet, and saxophone quintet. We thoroughly enjoyed this event and it was a great opportunity to see other local bands in new small ensemble settings we had never seen previously. We even took out a prize, with the brass trio securing first place in the trio section! April brought the opening of the Gawler Civic Centre, where the band played fun two sets for the visitors and got to have a look inside the brand new building too. In May, we performed in the Hahndorf Band Festival for the third year running. The trip to Hahndorf always makes for a fantastic day, and the band loves attending each year. Not only did we play great music, we even showed off our dancing skills with our well-received interactive performance of the Chicken Dance!

From here, it was full steam ahead towards our Cabaret and Cabarnet Night on June 29th at the St Brigid’s (now Xavier College Evanston) SAMAAT Building. The concert followed a 1920s theme both in music and in dress, featuring plenty of jazz and big band tunes and a range of other classics from the Jazz Age. The concert was very enjoyable for the band, who received lots of positive feedback about the show. August brought the Gawler Show, where the band performed a variety of music and a few members supported the Nurioopta Town Band as well. After our morning performance, many of us stuck around to enjoy a great day of band bonding at the Show. Shortly afterwards in early September, the band performed in a setting rarely done before – marching, at the Adelaide Showgrounds as part of a massed band for the State Marching Championships. While it took some effort for our members to learn this new style, it was a great experience despite some mild inclement weather. Building on the success of our Cabaret and Cabarnet Night, October brought our next band concert also at the SAMAAT – the Gawler Town Band World Tour, this time with a global theme in dress and music, featuring material from across many cultures and styles. This concert was a great success and saw an even better performance from the band building on what we learnt in June. The World Tour similarly received lots of positive feedback from attendees. November saw a performance at the Gawler Village Fair, an event that the GTB has played at several times before. November was also a month of change for the band, as the band sadly could no longer rehearse at our long-time rehearsal hall in the St Georges Anglican Church Hall on Cowan Rd. The hall held considerable sentimental value for band members, but while the band was sad to depart it, it also provided us an exciting chance to rehearse in a fresh new environment. The band moved into the Trinity College North Band Room, where we remained for a relatively short period – more on that soon… After our move, we then began preparing for the Christmas season, and played a highly acclaimed set at the Gawler Carols on the 14th of December.  We played a strong mix of classic and contemporary tunes, including a guest appearance from opera stars Mark Oates and Kristen Hardy who we accompanied in the famous Angels We Have Heard on High.

Harnessing the strong momentum we developed in 2019, the band was prepared for an even better 2020. Sadly, however, the COVID-19 pandemic flipped the world – and the band – upside down that year. We managed to squeeze in our annual Australia Day performance and a February article in The Bunyip about the importance of our young members in the band before South Australia’s first COVID-19 lockdown began in March. The world was worried and wasn’t sure what was next, and neither were we. But, in typical GTB fashion, we bounced back and adapted. Instead of our Monday night rehearsals, we caught up with each other each Monday night instead over the videoconferencing tool Zoom. We briefly attempted rehearsals over Zoom, but quickly discovered the lag made this impractical. Despite the struggle and hardship during this time, these weekly catch ups were tons of fun and were critical in keeping band spirits up despite our inability to meet in person. We talked to each other, told jokes, played Kahoots and other games, and it was a great way to break up the stresses of any given week. On ANZAC Day in April, several band members joined many other Australian musicians in a rousing COVID-safe initiative. They arose in the early morning and performed The Last Post on their respective instruments to their neighbourhoods at dawn in lieu of the traditional ANZAC ceremonies. Due to strict COVID rules regarding rules regarding schools and outside guests, the pandemic also meant that we could no longer rehearse at the Trinity Band Hall for an indefinite period. It was not until June 15th the band could finally rehearse in person again, now at the Salvation Army Riverside on Edith St in Gawler East. This was initially a temporary measure until the band could return to Trinity, but the Salvation Army Riverside venue quickly became our permanent rehearsal space and remains so to this day. To achieve this rehearsal, the band had to be split into two groups of less than 20 people that would swap halfway through the night, and we were also all seated 1.5m apart. The next week, however, we were back as a full band, though still 1.5m apart. While many band members were a tad rusty after three months out of any ensemble playing, the return of rehearsals went surprisingly well, thanks largely to the personal practice of members during lockdown. The band then announced a revolutionary move, with our own concert livestreamed from our rehearsal hall – At Home with the Gawler Town Band, which was streamed at 7pm on August 7th. The concert was hosted by Gawler local Ethan White, host of his own television show Off the Couch With Ethan, and was supported by our sponsors BMusic and Rudall and Rudall Lawyers. You can still view this piece of history today on this page. The concert was very well received by the community and other community bands, who had not seen the band in any performance setting for quite some time. It took a considerable amount of effort to create the concert both musically and technologically in this unique setting. But with help from BMusic, the recorded sound was great and overall the concert was a big success that was critical in keeping the band relevant in the community despite the inability to perform live.

Following the concert, the band continued weekly rehearsals despite the absence of any major event to prepare for. Also, COVID quarantine regulations often saw members having to suddenly miss rehearsals for two weeks at a time, which made numbers unpredictable. The band was able to return to small live performances before the end of the year, with a performance at the Aussie Farm Fresh Markets, the Salvation Army Riverside Carols By the River, and their own Christmas Matinee Show, all in December. The band also played at the completion of the Willaston Headstone Project featuring a dedication of headstones for eight WWI veterans. This outdoor event was very cold and the pouring rain drenched guests, along with conductor Conor and the band members in the back row who were unfortunately uncovered by the marquee. Despite the difficult weather, the band was pleased to be a part of the important historical ceremony. While social distancing and other restrictions remained, the band loved returning to true live performance with this lineup of Christmas shows. Finally, the band was thankful to be able to conclude the year with the annual Christmas Dinner, featuring an extensive Kahoot section to commemorate the many Kahoots played in our Zoom meetings throughout the year. Notably, 2020 also gave us the opportunity to work on our online presence, including the launch of this website. 2020 was a difficult and unpredictable year in many ways for both the band and its members, and it put the future of the band at risk. It was truly a year like no other in our over 160 year history. But, thanks to the perseverance, adaptability, and commitment of band members, as well as many supportive community members and other community bands, we were able to make it through to 2021.

While some COVID restrictions had eased, 2021 was another unpredictable year for the band. Sudden changes to COVID restrictions combined with several snap lockdowns upon new outbreaks meant that rehearsals and events could be cancelled at a moment’s notice. During these lockdowns and periods of heavy restrictions, the band continued the 2020 tradition of replacement Zoom meetings to make sure they kept up motivation during these difficult periods. Live performances began again in March as the band was glad to return to their annual performance at the Gawler Cancer Council Relay for Life. The band has long enjoyed supporting this event and it was a great start to the year following the struggles of 2020. In April, the band played a set at a Car Show organised by the Gawler Car Club, which provided a great opportunity for us to check out some of the great-looking cars at the show as well. While some events were slowly returning, the remaining presence of restrictions continued to limit the scale of many performance opportunities.

On August 27th, the band hosted their Friday Night Live concert, the band’s first major concert (bar their Christmas matinee) at the Civic Centre. Attendees could also opt to receive a cooked dinner with the show. Remarkably, the band had only a few weeks to prepare for this concert. A week-long lockdown in late July and strict restrictions in the beginning of August forced a two week-break in rehearsals, and when the band returned, we had just three weeks to prepare. However, the dedication and hard work of band members meant we were still able to pull together a great performance that was well-received by a strong audience. The concert featured a Film and Broadway theme, with tunes from many classics from The Sound of Music to Guardians of the Galaxy and more. This was also another dress-up concert, with band members dressing up as characters from their favourite films. This included several Blues Brothers, a film that remains a staple of the band’s culture thanks particularly to the influence of Conor, a mega-fan of the film. The band was then glad to return to Hahndorf in October, this time taking out the second place award, a band record. Huge crowds attended the event to see the GTB and 13 other community bands, celebrating the first Hahndorf Band Festival since the outbreak of COVID-19. The band then played a typical sequence of Christmas gigs, returning to the Salvation Army Riverside concert and also a small quartet performance at the Gawler Civic Centre for the Twilight Christmas Markets. Unfortunately, this year the Gawler Carols at Pioneer Park that the band had previously performed at for several years did not go ahead. The band was able to close another year with our traditional Christmas dinner, and looked forward to 2022 with the hope that more performance opportunities would continue to return.

The 2022 performance season began a tad later than normal, but it was a good start with our annual performance at the Relay for Life at the beginning of April. It was a year of firsts for the GTB – April saw new ground for the band with a rare marching performance at the Adelaide ANZAC Day March, our first since the State Marching Championships in 2019. A small contingent of GTB members joined fellow Northern Suburbs community bands Playford and Nuriootpa to represent the region as a massed marching band. This collaboration laid the foundation for first combined concert with these two bands: A Grand Show of Bands at the Starplex Hewitson Theatre, on June 19th. Each band played an individual set, then all three bands performed together in a megaensemble for the finale, featuring three pieces, one selected by each band. The concert was very successful and was quite effective at deepening the GTB’s relationship with Playford and Nuriootpa in our Northern Suburbs community band alliance. It is crucial for community bands to support one another and make the most of our shared experience, and this was a great help in furthering that support for each of us.

In early August, the band performed for the first time since 2013 at the Strathalbyn Band Festival. It was a bit of a drive (approx. 87.5km!), but it was a nice opportunity for the band to expand our reach down near the Fleurieu region, and to meet with other likeminded community bands. September saw a small performance at the Grand Finals of the Gawler and District Netball Association. October brought yet another Hahndorf Band Festival. While the band did not achieve the silver second place spot achieved in 2021, this was nevertheless a fun day as always, and another great opportunity to see other community bands from across the state, as well as enjoy the beautiful Hahndorf scenery. November saw our regular performance at the Village Fair before the beginning of a very busy Christmas season. December saw two festive performances at Bunnings Gawler Green, as well as a feature at the Two Wells Christmas Parade and finally another year performing at the Salvation Army Riverside’s Carols. The last three gigs of the festive season  were extremely close together: the Two Wells Parade occurred on December 16th, then Bunnings on the 18th at 1pm, and finally the Riverside Carols also on the 18th that same evening! The band closed off the 2022 season the following night with our Christmas Dinner. Here, Joshua Ryan was named GTB Bandperson of the Year. A new award was also introduced for young members, the Neil Edwards Encouragement Award, to honour the memory of Neil Edwards, an extraordinarily dedicated brass player who had been a longtime member of the band before he sadly passed away at the beginning of 2020.

2023 has so far been a successful year for the band, as the long-lasting impact of COVID-19 finally appears to ease (knocking on wood of course), allowing us to return to the strong momentum we had built up prior to 2020. Our Summer Soirée concert on March 4th at the Starplex Hewitson Theatre was our first band concert since 2021’s Friday Night Live. The theme of this concert was not as strict as previous concerts, though it still had a dressup theme for band members – black and white formal dress – which was well interpreted by the band in some stunning ways. At this concert, our beloved Musical Director Conor officially announced his retirement after five years in the job. Not only this, but he also beautifully proposed on stage to his partner Hilary, who he had met in the band! This was a beautiful end to the night, and while the band was sad to see him leave the position of Musical Director, they remain eternally grateful for all Conor has contributed to the band and his incredible leadership, particularly in supporting the high influx of younger members and in leading us through the COVID-19 pandemic. Conor remains in the band as one of our saxophonists. At our AGM the following week, Harry Lange was elected the band’s next Musical Director after two years of training from Conor.

This brings us to the present day in 2023. The GTB has lots of exciting performances and initiatives in store this year, and we look forward to engaging in these and adding to the ever-expanding history of this fantastic band.