The competition, organised by Larona Association, will have a number of Brass Bands entertaining and competing for the top three positions.
Some of the bands, which have already committed to take part in the competition include The Rodgers Brass Band from Mmakgodi, Moonstone Silver Band, St John Faith Mission popularly known as Scottish from Molepolole and Calvary Apostolic Church Brass Band.
Larona Association Public Relations Officer, Larona Thabakgolo told Arts and Culture that even though the event is a competition, the whole idea behind the competition is for the bands to gain exposure in a fun environment.
She explained that while most brass brands do not seem to place much emphasis on popularity, some of them are not well known and as such they felt the need to give the bands exposure and raise funds for the bands. “We have given all participating bands tickets to sell, and for all the sales they make the band will keep 25% of the proceeds to assist the participating bands in preparing for the event,” Thabakgolo explained.
She stated that most of the bands, which will be participating in the event, are from different churches and as such the competition in a way will be a praise and worship service.
She further explained that in order for the process to be fair, they decided to pick one song, which the bands will be playing namely Alpha and Omega, so that the judging process does not put any of the bands in a bad light.
“We engaged professionals to transcribe the song into notes, and after realisation that some of the bands don’t have the necessary skills to read notes, we decided to send the bands both audio so that other bands can listen phonetically to do their rehearsals,” Thabakgolo said.
She further explained that while there will be prize money to be won, the gist of the event is to bring brass bands and music lovers together for a night of praise and worship. Founded by Arch Bishop Gaselarona Sikwa, Larona Association seeks to assist vulnerable families in the society by providing for their needs such as food, shelter and clothing. The association also assists the disabled with basic needs.
