Whanganui duo in homecoming concert with New Zealand Army Band

Private Lisa Crawley and Lance Corporal Jacob Mancer are excited for their homecoming concert on Saturday.

Two Whanganui-raised musicians are returning to their roots as members of the New Zealand Army Band.

Private Lisa Crawley and Lance Corporal Jacob Mancer, who developed their interest in brass music in Whanganui, have performed around the world including at Edinburgh military tattoos and Gallipoli services. They will play with the band at the Royal Whanganui Opera House on Saturday night.

Crawley started playing in the late 1990s after seeing Whanganui City Brass in concert at the Opera House.

“I had somehow got it in my head that Elton John was going to be playing - he wasn’t of course – but after I’d gotten over my disappointment the band came on stage and I was mesmerised.”

Crawley followed in the footsteps of a strong family lineage, with her grandfather and great-uncle, Ralph and Selwyn Holmes, avid brass band players.

Mancer’s introduction to brass music was more of a chance affair.

“We were set to go to a Carols by Candlelight concert in Whanganui in the mid-2000s, but it was cancelled,” he said.

“I had extended family members playing for Brass Whanganui at the time, and they decided to host their own mini carols concert at home. This is where my brother Brad and I had our first go on an instrument, and it was the start of my musical journey.”

Crawley and Mancer were tutored at various points in their career by Whanganui’s Kevin Jarrett MBE, a former bandmaster of the NZ Army Band.

“Kevin was more than just my music teacher,” Crawley said.

“He was my mentor, my confidante and my friend. He taught me the importance of playing a beautiful melody and explained that they were often the hardest to play. ‘No one wants to hear a technically brilliant solo if you don’t have a good sound’ he’d said. ‘Sound is everything’.”

Mancer pursued other career options before joining the band.

“I started studying exercise and sport science in Palmerston North but ended up moving home to be closer to family. I then started a plumbing apprenticeship and very quickly decided that that career wasn’t for me,” he said.

“I always knew the Army Band existed and knew it was a really cool job - playing music full time and getting paid to do it, why didn’t I think of joining sooner? I auditioned on the tenor horn in 2007 and got in. I haven’t looked back since.”

The concert tour marks the end of Crawley’s second stint with the band, a full-circle moment to finish in Whanganui.

“I’ve had an even better time with the band this time round. So many incredible, kind and hard-working people that I’m going to miss deeply. So as I conclude my Army career for the second time - and in my hometown no less - I reflect on the many wonderful people I have had a privilege to serve with and to those who paved the way forward for us.”

Mancer is set to mark the Whanganui concert with a special performance.

“I am very excited to be heading home and playing in the good old Whanganui Opera House. This is very exciting because my family will be attending and supporting me but also because I’ll be playing a solo. It’s a piece of music called Enter the Dance by Andrea Price. I can’t wait.”

The tour is the first under the baton of new bandmaster Staff Sergeant Nicholas Johnson and will feature traditional brass band music as well as tributes to the golden era of big band swing.

Tickets for the Whanganui concert are available from the Opera House box office or online. The event starts at 7.30pm on Saturday, August 3.