Aslan Shand
Playing brass was something Rosie King began as a young child in Sydney along with her three older brothers and it has become a lifelong passion.
Byron Shire-based Rosie has recently been rewarded for her commitment to brass by becoming the first solo brass champion in three major countries, the United Kingdom, Australia and recently the United States.
‘Winning the North American Brass Solo Championship in April meant so much more because it completed my personal goal of winning all three major international titles. I won in Australia in 2002, Great Britain in 2002 and 2005 and the USA in April this year,‘ said Rosie.
Over 180 of North America’s finest brass musicians took part in the largest amateur musicmaking festival of brass music held in the USA, April 5 till 8 this year.
Invited by US uni
Rosie was invited by Dr Lee Harrelson (head of Music at the Missouri Western State University) to attend the festival and to perform as a horn player with the City of Kansas organisation known as ‘Fountain City Brass’.
Prior to the festival, she spent a week performing in both Kansas City and St Louis, Missouri, preparing for the competitive stage performance that took place at the National Brass Festival held in the Embassy Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she also competed as a soloist.
Rosie’s son, Oscar Crosara, highlighted that ‘Not only was Rosie a finalist in the USA senior solo championships, she was in fact declared open winner of the coveted international award with her performance of Concert Fantasy that literally blew the judges and the international audience away.’
‘Rosie has worked very hard and broken boundaries to achieve this. As well as being an accomplished solo artist, Rosie also pioneered Australia’s first all-female brass band, the Belles of Brass.’
A three-year project ‘Belles of Brass’ was an all-female 30-piece brass band that Rosie formed with two of her girl friends from Sydney back in 2000.
‘Our goal was both to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research by performing major concerts throughout Australia,’ said Rosie.
In 2003 Rosie headed to the UK with her three children to complete a master of arts degree in music performance at the University of Salford, Manchester.
When she returned to Australia in 2008, she relocated to Byron Bay and became a registered marriage celebrant, which she enjoys ‘immensely and with equal passion’.
Though Rosie doesn’t play locally, her recent involvement in the North American Brass Festival has seen her receive an invitation to be a senior brass tutor for the newly formed National Youth Band of America and she will again visit Kansas City early next year as a guest performer.
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