The Invercargill Garrison Band has been promoting and teaching brass music in the south for over 150 years. The band received the first grant dollars distributed by Community Trust South back in 1988.
“The strength of the band has been families. If you take the Auxiliary band I think the youngest is probably about 9 years old, then you go to the senior band and you’ve got people who are in their late 60s, so that’s great for social interaction and development. It’s not just about the music – it’s about family.
One of the challenges we have is that eventually a lot of those young ones move on out of town to University, but I would venture to suggest that if you went to most of the A Grade bands throughout New Zealand - and there’s about 9 or 10 of them - somewhere there will be someone who trained in Invercargill.”
Graham Dick
Past President and Musician
Since making this story in 2018, Graham has sadly passed away. Graham played a pivotal role in the Invercargill Garrison Band over a long period of time and was well respected throughout the Southland community. His legacy will continue for many years to come.
