National Festival 2025 will be held in the Alan Gibbs Centre at Wellington College. The dates are 18th-20th of July. This year our Festival is hosted by the Wellington Symphonic Bands and we thank them for their amazing support! Please find further information on the following links below
Guidelines, Fees and other information for participants– Festival Information, Guidelines and Rules 2025.pdf
Schedule – Finalised Schedule
Maps – Venue Plans
Public Entry to Festival: Koha on the door
Band Adjudicators
NZ Adjudicator – Dr. Hannah Darroch
Dr. Hannah Darroch is the new Chief Executive of SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music, following four years as Principal Flute of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and artist teacher at the University of Canterbury.
In the symphonic band world, Hannah was the Principal Piccolo of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, and also featured on the premiere release of Frank Ticheli’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated work Songs of Love and Life recorded in the United States.
International Adjudicator – Dr. Jeffrey Boeckman
Dr. Jeffrey Boeckman is Professor of Music and Director of Bands at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He conducts the Wind Ensemble, teaches courses in conducting and wind literature, and oversees the entire UH Bands program. Jeffrey is returning to our Festival this year, previously having been an adjudicator when Festival was last in Rotorua.
Ensembles under his direction have performed at such venues as the Western/Northwestern College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Conference, the California, Hawai‘i, and Texas Music Educators Association Conferences, and on tours throughout North America and Europe. He has presented at the Midwest Clinic; at CBDNA National Conferences, at World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) International Conferences, at several state Music Educators Association State Conferences, and has been published in the Music Educators Journal and the Journal of Band Research.
Solo & Ensemble Adjudicators
Solo Adjudicator – Natania Ngawhau
Natania has performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, and various other ensembles across the country. She has been a guest soloist with the New Zealand Army Band, various brass bands and the Nelson Symphony Orchestra. Natania has also been a member of the National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Brass Band.
Internationally, she has performed around Austria and Italy with orchestras and chamber ensembles including the Graz Opera.
In 2024, Natania was one of eight trombonists selected for the Punto Arte Festival Trombone Masterclass, in Volterra, Italy. Around the same time, she won the Principal Trombone position in the
Ferruccio Busoni European Youth Orchestra, a role she will hold until 2026.
Ensembles Adjudicator – Alex Eichelbaum
Lieutenant Eichelbaum enlisted into the RNZN Band in 2018 and performed as Associate Principal Clarinet and on Tenor Saxophone. He commissioned from the ranks in 2023 and continues to play an active part in the musical life of the Service, assisting with Band performances and ceremonial events.
Outside of the Navy, Alex is the Music Director of the Manukau Concert Band, recent winners of the Australian Band Championship “Open B Grade” Concert Band section.
He has directed many of the community wind bands across his home region of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Through this, he has had a longstanding association with the NZCBA, notably assisting with the formation and running of the NZYSW in 2014.
He remains in demand as a performer with the Auckland Saxophone Ensemble and supports a wide variety of band and musical productions.