Brass Band

As an accomplished musician himself, Rosendo Salvado was quick to note the Yued people’s musical abilities. He formed an Aboriginal boy’s choir in the early 1870s, followed by a trained string orchestra of some 20 players and a brass band of 25 performers. The musicians would play for mission dances and developed a reputation for their performances. The choir, string orchestra and brass band all continued until Salvado died in 1900 and their music making died along with Salvado. Fast forward another 50 years and the director of the Aboriginal Boys’ Orphanage at New Norcia established an Aboriginal Boys’ Brass Band to celebrate the centenary of the mission. Again, the boys impressed audiences with their musical talent. The band continued for another six years until 1954 when the boys left the mission. The brass band’s music faded with their departure, leaving instruments like this. However, the music tradition at New Norcia continued with the later acquisition of a Moser organ from Germany, and the music of the celebrated Dom Stephen Moreno (1889-1953) right through to today’s Father Robert Nixon, an accomplished musician and composer in his own right.