Music Director

Helen Blakebrough

With 29 years of continuous membership, Helen is one of the longest serving members of PCCB and is now a Life Member of the Band.  In addition to her time with the band Helen has had a long history of music in South Australia, teaching and performing with a number of different groups as well as leading and supporting many gang shows.

Helen acted as Assistant Conductor or Deputy Music Director of the band under a number of Music Directors including founder Dean Jeffries and has often taken over at very short notice and always ensured the band fulfilled its musical obligations very successfully.

In 2016, Helen prepared the band’s participation in the National Band Championships held in South Australia that year, and conducted our performance. PCCB is not a regularly competing band and yet she carried the band with her in this challenging and unfamiliar environment and we performed – according to adjudicators and audience alike – to a very high standard.
That same year, Helen led the band at its 50th anniversary concert. She selected and led a very varied and challenging program helping to make this very significant event an outstanding success musically, socially, and financially.

Helen was well placed to take over the music leadership of the band and was welcomed by all members into the role of Music Director.

Assistant Music Director

Bridget Baker

Bridget began learning piano as a child, before taking up the flute as an adult. She also plays alto and tenor saxophones, as well as Bb and bass clarinets.

While Bridget has no formal training in conducting, her musical qualifications include an Associate in Music, Australia (AMusA) on flute and Grade 6 music theory from the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB).

In the late 1990s, Bridget ran a small junior band for the Monash Concert Band in Victoria, a community band previously known as the Waverley Concert Band. Taking the main band for rehearsals during the Music Director's absences led to Bridget being awarded the Assistant Music Director position in 2004. The band was also under her direction during the recruitment process after the Music Director stepped down.

From 1996 to 2005, Bridget led the Victorian Flute Guild - Intermediate Group, a small ensemble of flautists who rehearsed once a month for performances in the Victorian Flute Guild Ensemble Competition as well as church Christmas concerts.

Bridget has been a valued member of the Payneham City Concert Band since 2009 within both the flute and saxophone sections, and was awarded the role of Assistant Music Director in 2019. She also plays with the Adelaide City Concert Band and ARPA Orchestra, as well as with two small ensembles.