FESTIVAL OF BANDS 2025
CONCERT PROGRAM
SAT 10TH MAY 2024 | 4:00PM
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ST. PATRICK’S PRIMARY SCHOOL OVAL
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SAT 10TH MAY 2024 | 4:00PM 〰️ ST. PATRICK’S PRIMARY SCHOOL OVAL 〰️
GALA CONCERT PROGRAM
Title | Composer / Arranger
opening act BY SONAMUS PERCUSSION
Peking Opera Percussion
Conducted by LOU WALL
Children’s Choir (Choir 1)
It’s Bonfire Season | Alice Chance
Swimming | Brendan O’Mahony
COMBINED CHOIR PERFORMANCE
Music, Lead the Way | Laura Farnell
Teen/Adult Choir (Choir 2)
Summertime | arr. Roger Emerson
Connected | Brian Tate
GUEST PERFORMANCE BY THE CLICKY KEYS TRIO
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik | Mozart
I. Allegro
Suite from Peer Gynt | Greig arr. Roger Cawkwell
I. Morning
II. Anitra’s Dance
III. In the Hall of the Mountain King
GUEST PERFORMANCE BY SONAMUS PERCUSSION
Bull Fights Tiger
Conducted by DR RALPH HULTGREN
Concert Band 1
The Forge of Vulcan | Tim Fisher
Cantabile | Ralph Hultgren
The Last Frontier | Steven Capaldo
Concert Band 2
Camel Train | Brian Hogg
Beside Still Waters | Ralph Hultgren
Hornpipe | Brian West
Concert Band 3
Momentum | Brian Hogg
A Town Like Home | Emma Olsen*
Abendlied | Rheinberger/Arnold
Rejoice! Be Glad! | Ralph Hultgren
Guest performance by the clicky keys trio
Aeroplane Jelly | Albert Francis Lenertz
Two German Dances | Mozart
American Folk Suite | arr. R. Hervig
The Teddy Bears’ Picnic | John W Bratton
GUEST PERFORMANCE BY SONAMUS PERCUSSION
The Golden Pheasant Descends the Mountain
Wild Geese (Mongolian Folk Song)
Sun Wukong’s Battle with the Skeleton Spirit
Bang! | Gordon Hughes
*Commissioned for 2025 Central Highlands Festival of Bands (Debut performance)
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BAND CONDUCTOR/CLINICIAN
dr ralph hultgren
Dr. Ralph Hultgren, born in Box Hill, Victoria, now lives in Newmarket, Queensland, with his wife Julie. A renowned Australian composer, conductor, and educator, he began his music career as a trumpet player with the Royal Australian Air Force in 1970. Over four decades, he has performed with major ensembles, conducted globally, and composed widely commissioned and acclaimed works featured in recordings, broadcasts, and concerts.
Honoured with numerous accolades, Dr. Hultgren is a Member of the Order of Australia, Patron of the Maryborough Music Conference, and recipient of the Midwest Clinic International Award and ABODA’s Citation of Excellence. He has held academic leadership roles at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and QUT, focusing on conducting and instrumental music education.
While composing and conducting remain central to his work, Dr. Hultgren finds his deepest passion in teaching and family. He also enjoys reading, listening to music, and leading his church’s men’s group.
CHOIR CONDUCTOR/CLINICIAN
LOU WALL
Lou is a passionate and skilled music educator dedicated to inspiring young singers through her energetic and engaging teaching approach. As the Coordinator of Choirs at St Rita’s College, she leads a thriving choral and vocal program, consisting of six choirs and over 50 private singing students. In addition, Lou conducts two choirs at Hillbrook Anglican School.
Lou holds a Master of Music Studies in Vocal Pedagogy with Distinction from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, and has earned recognition for her dedication to her studies by receiving the Griffith Academic Excellence Award in 2022 and 2024. Her specialised knowledge in Accent Method Breathing and voice health gives Lou’s teenage students essential skills to navigate voice changes through adolescence.
Lou is deeply passionate about contemporary choral music, believing that physical engagement and audience connection are just as important as beautiful singing. This approach to choral performance has made her a sought-after choral clinician, leading workshops and music camps across Queensland.
In collaboration with ‘Good to Great Schools Australia,’ Lou helps Indigenous schools in Far North Queensland implement engaging choral programs. This initiative enriches music education for students while providing ongoing professional support to music educators through regular community visits.
GUEST MUSICIANS: the clicky keys trio
The Clicky Keys Trio is a Brisbane-based woodwind group featuring Corina Palafox on flute, Alex Lord on clarinet and Mairin Thompson on bassoon.
With a shared love of music and enthusiasm for engaging with new audiences, they bring a fresh and friendly twist to the classical tradition. Their programs blend classical favourites with familiar tunes audiences of all ages will recognise, creating performances that are fun, welcoming and engaging. Whether in concert halls or community spaces, Clicky Keys’ performances are centred on connection, creativity and having fun with music.
GUEST MUSICIANS: sonamus percussion
Built on the foundations laid by Chinese/Australian percussionists Yuyan Wang and Paul Lin, Sonamus Percussion is a flexible combination of internationally active percussionists combining the best of Western and Chinese percussion styles and instruments. Their repertoire ranges from original compositions for mallets to improvisatory works for ethnic instruments. The resulting variety in styles and stage presentation is proving popular with audiences around the world, with recent performances across China, Europe, and, in 2025, regional Queensland.
Yuyan Wang is currently Professor at the International Centre for Cultural Sustainability Zhaoqing University, an active performer, educator and clinician throughout Australia and China, who combines her passion for all things percussion with a mission to pass her knowledge and enthusiasm on to the next generation. A graduate from Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Bergerault Artiste and Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, she has recently started to focus on the performance side of her varied career re-energising performances with internationally active Sonamus Percussion. She is also a passionate supporter of regional Australian music-making, with regular performance and workshop trips to regional Queensland.
Tingyue Zheng is a member of Sonamus Percussion and student of Dr Yuyan Wang. She won Prizes at the 2019 7th National Solo Competition, 2020 Shanghai IPEA Elite Percussion Competition and 2023 Swedish International Music Competition. In 2023, she recorded Jia Daqun's grand symphony concerto "Li Yuan" with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, and in 2024 will travel to Belgium for the International Marimba Competition and Festival.
Yusheng Lu is a performing and administrative member of Sonamus Percussion. He won First Prize in the 2017 Jiangxi Provincial Percussion Art Festival, and participated in the 2023 "Shanghai Spring" concert series, the 7th IPEA International Percussion Competition Concert Series, and regularly performs in a variety of chamber ensembles in concert halls across the country.
Helping out in the capacity of presenter, driver, and occasionally hitting some things, is non-percussionist but rather hornist Armin Terzer, Professor at the International Centre for Cultural Sustainability Zhaoqing University, Principal Horn of the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, and by now well known to Central Highlands audiences as part of BoB - Best of Brass.