Symphonic Winds

The St Peters Symphonic Winds, one of the three major musical groups (the others being St Peters Orchestra and St Peters Chorale) of St Peters Lutheran College, Australia was established in its current form and in name by Grant Mason in 2005 and was previously known as the St Peters Wind Symphony. It is composed of students between 13 and 18 years of age. The concert band has performed with some of Australia's leading musicians, such as Sean O'Boyle (AUS), and Dave Brubeck (AUS) as well as overseas conductors.

The Symphonic Winds has established a reputation for its commitment to some styles of music; it focusses primarily on arranged late Romantic works, 20th Century show and film music, and, in terms of original arrangements, on Australia's own composers, from whom scores are sometimes commissioned.

Like most Australian school ensembles, the band functions outside the curriculum, rehearsing one morning and one afternoon each week, for a weekly total of three and a half hours. The band's repertoire includes contemporary Australian music by Brian Hogg and Sean O'Boyle, as well as other works by Samuel R.Hazo, John Higgins, Robert Sheldon, Ralph Hultgren and Claude T Smith, though these are often arranged works.

Tours and awards
St Peters Symphonic Winds, like the other major ensembles of the St Peters music program, undertakes performance tours during school holidays. The band has toured through most Australian states and toured overseas in USA and Canada in 2005.
The St Peters Symphonic Winds band has won the Queensland Youth Music Award for three years in a row.

Composition
The St Peters Symphonic Winds band is comprised of the standard concert band instrument listing, including typical brass (Wagnerian), woodwind, and percussion sections.

See Also
St Peters Lutheran College

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