About Sydney Wind Symphony

Our ensemble first came together when the City of Sydney endorsed the formation of the City of Sydney Youth Festival Concert Band as a special activity associated with the International Year of Youth in 1985.

The City of Sydney Council's support for our band's continuance was sought in 1986 with the aim of performing at events leading up to and during Australia's 200th birthday celebrations. For sometime we were known as the Bicentennial Band and performed at some 75 public performances and toured overseas twice visiting England, France, Japan, Canada and USA. The Bicentennial Band completed its charter in December 1988, and the City of Sydney Concert Band (now known as Sydney Wind Symphony) was formed.

Since the band became a permanent part of the Sydney scene in 1989, we completed four further major tours. The first was returning to Sydney's sister city of Nagoya, Japan in 1990, and in 1991 visiting Ayers Rock.  We followed Ayers Rock with a three-week European tour in 1992 - the highlight being a performance at Australia National Day celebrations and World Expo '92 in Seville.

We were honoured by the Australian Government to be the only non-professional group endorsed to perform at Expo '92. This tour coincided with Sydney's Sesquicentennial Celebrations and saw the band return to Sydney's other sister city of Portsmouth, England to perform at the Portsmouth Festival.

The ensemble has performed at numerous prestigious events such as the visit of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, the host city announcement for the 2000 Olympic Games, the Lord Mayor's Charity Concert, the 60th Anniversary of the Harbour Bridge, various Australia Day Celebrations, World Cup Cricket Matches and many more.

Whilst no longer sponsored by the City of Sydney Council, we still maintain our primary objective as an ensemble - to provide entertainment for the citizens of Sydney. As such, Sydney Wind Symphony still participates in many community events organised by councils throughout Sydney as well as high-profile events such as the Centenary of Federation Parade.

 The Sydney Wind Symphony also regularly competes in both the state and national Open A Grade Concert Band Champions. In 2004 we were named the champions and more recently we were placed second in the both the state and national champions for 2009.

The Sydney Wind Symphony gratefully acknowledges the support of Club Willoughby who provide us with a location for our weekly rehersals.