Departure Day is Here!

3rd July 2026

Kia ora koutou / Hi everyone / Hallo allemaal,

Jack here, the band’s 1st baritone. The day has arrived where we depart for the Netherlands.

It’s been a busy build-up to prepare for the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, but it’s now time to leave the bandroom behind, pack uniforms and mutes, and begin the roughly 34 hours of travel to get to Amsterdam.

In all honesty, this is the worst part of the trip for me – I hate packing, waits at airports, plane toilets, airline meals, jetlag, and customs & security with a passion. Of course, it’s an irrational hatred, given the process is almost always very smooth—but it provides us with an opportunity to focus on the real reason we’re travelling. Representing Wellington, and New Zealand as a whole, on the world stage, which is always a privilege.

This will be one of the band’s biggest contests – joining nine of the world’s best bands on one stage is an incredible occasion. Our opponents have fifteen European titles between them and include the defending world champions, current European champions and current champion bands of the USA and Belgium.

I was lucky enough to join the band for its last European expedition to the British Open ten years ago. The experience was intense and unforgettable; I’m really excited for the youngest members of our band to experience that unique feeling this coming week.

A particular highlight for me for this trip is obviously the performance of Apokalypsis at the contest, which will be the first time my music has been performed outside of Australasia. The band has been brilliant in resurrecting this piece after a year since we last played it and I can’t wait to fill the Rodahal with the last few chords.

In preparation for taking this piece to Europe, I followed the convention of some published scores to translate the programme notes into Dutch, French, and German. So, a huge dank u wel to my cousin’s Dutch in-laws, merci to my mum’s French physio, and danke to my mum’s German former work colleague for assisting with this.

If you had told 18-year-old me that this kind of opportunity would present itself again, let alone having my music performed, he would be absolutely fizzing.

The last rehearsal before departure. Can you tell this was taken at 10 pm? Courtesy of Daisuke Hayashi.