History

Darebin City Brass (previously Preston Municipal Band) has one of the most outstanding records of Brass Bands in Victoria and indeed Australia.Founded in 1934 from Preston Citizens Band, the band developed quickly under conductor W.S. May to reach A grade status and secured much success.

After Mr May's death in 1953 another eminent conductor, Charles Smith, continued the band's recognition and helped the band to produce several long playing records (released on the Spotlight label). These recordings were a first for Brass Bands at the time and were very successful commercially.

During World War 2, many senior bandsmen enlisted in the services, but the band was able to continue with players from the Preston Junior Band. These players from the Junior Band launched the Preston Municipal Band in the post war years as a first class outfit held in high esteem within the Australian Band scene. To this day there is still a junior program operating under the leadership of Jack Kelly who has brought new players into the senior ranks.

Other musical directors of the band at this time included Arthur Withers and Alex Ferguson. Under Alex's leadership, the band toured to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London - competing in the annual Edinburgh Invitational Contest.

After Alex, Major Eric Andersen was appointed Musical Director of the band - this was the first time a member of the defence forces (Music) had been appointed to the position.

Eric was replaced by Pat Pickett who was also from the Army, and later Tom Paulin - a world renowned cornet player. Another Tom - Tom Miller - continued the band's development until he resigned in December 2004.

The current conductor, Jason Mears, has embarked on a program of building the band to a consistent "A" grade standard. Jason has taken the band to many competitions, including a trip to the New Zealand Championships in 2007. The band also regularly performs out in the community, from Anzac Day events to an annual cabaret at the Preston Town Hall.

To further ensure the future of banding at Darebin, a second band was established in 2006 which is called Northern Brass. This D Grade band has had great success under the baton of Andrew Power, a former student of Jason’s. Jason plays principal cornet in the band, and other Preston players give their time and experience to help guide the younger players. Northern Brass has won the Victorian State D Grade section twice and was Australian D Grade Champions in 2007. In March 2008, Northern was regraded to C Grade!