CNL Brass - NSW Championships, 2007

CNL Brass is a community band,  formed in 1973. It rehearses at Cardiff, a suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, under the baton of Musical Director, Ron Boaden.

With its members ranging in age from 26 to 82 years, the band supports community events, marching in festival parades and entertaining with concert performances.

It has led the annual Wallsend Winter Fair Parade since it began twenty-six years ago and has provided a concert program after the Parade to entertain those in attendance. It is a popular Fair. Wallsend is a suburb of Newcastle.

It also entertains developmentally disabled members of the community, supporting in particular, an organization known as Crossroads, which organises weekly entertainment for its disabled members. CNL Brass has supported Crossroads for thirty-five years.

CNL Brass provided the entertainment for another volunteer organization called Head Start in October 2009, as its members ended a fundraising walk. Head Start provides support for persons that have suffered brain injuries, mainly as a result of accidents. The band will entertain again for Head Start in its fundraising walks in future years.

CNL Brass has a major annual commitment to Anzac Day, supporting both Belmont and Pelican Flat RSL Sub-Branches in their Marches and Services and providing their entertainment by way of concerts. It has been proud to provide this continuous support for thirty years.

It has been a regular participant in the Hunter Regional Band Association’s annual Bands in the Park entertainment day for more than twenty years. The event is held in Newcastle’s well-known King Edward Park in November each year. It is non-competitive and free for the community to attend. Eight to ten bands participate in the event.

The band has presented concert programs in support of community radio station 2NURfm 103.7 in its fundraising efforts. The Vice-President of the band and Horn player, Geoff McGregor, presents a weekly thirty-minute program— Brass Encounters—on the station, featuring the best in Brass Band Music, past and present.

CNL Brass also presents concerts in its own right, inviting guest artists and other music groups to perform with the band.