Annual Air Force in Concert Set to Be a Crowd Pleaser

24 July 2019

Annual Air Force in Concert Set to Be a Crowd Pleaser

The Royal New Zealand Air Force Band (RNZAF) is promising to deliver something special for this year’s Air Force in Concert performance in Wellington.

The 65-member band is made up of New Zealand Defence Force Reservists, most of whom are active in Wellington’s buzzing music scene.

The band’s popular annual concert, at the Michael Fowler Centre on 10 August, will feature a range of musical styles, from Straus to Paul Simon, led by outstanding vocalists Leading Aircraftmen Barbara Graham and Stephanie Paris.

Celebrated piper Flight Sergeant Murray Mansfield will get the feet stomping with Celtic melodies and the band’s Drumline is working up magical rhythms to take the audience on a journey around the world.

Special guest vocalist will be Chris Crowe, who has starred in Phantom of the Opera.

This will be the second time Mr Crowe has performed with the RNZAF Band, the first being a wet national anthem at a Bledisloe Cup rugby match in Eden Park.

“I am really looking forward to hearing the RNZAF band in full swing and getting out on that Michael Fowler Centre stage again,” he said.

Bandmaster Sergeant Ben Robertson said it had been a challenge to top last year’s concert programme but band director Flight Lieutenant David Gallaher had delivered the goods.

“This year’s concert will feature lots of different genres but every piece is a crowd pleaser,” he said.

The Air Force in Concert started as the Air Force Proms in the 1990s and was altered to its current state in 2016.

The intention was to move away from the British theme and create a uniquely kiwi concert.

“It’s a great chance to hear the finest wind and percussion players New Zealand has to offer,” Sergeant Robertson said.

The RNZAF Band will perform Air Force in Concert in the Michael Fowler Centre on Saturday, 10 August, at 2.30pm. Tickets from Ticketmaster

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