Kathryn George leads Mackay North State High students in Brisbane Anzac Day parade

Kathryn George saw something missing during a Mackay Anzac Day parade, and it led her to run one of the most sought after school bands in the country.

Katheryn George, OAM, leads the Mackay North State High Big Band.

Before Mackay North State High first led the Anzac Day march down Jubilee Park, the only music during the parade came out of a speaker on the back of a ute.

That all changed in 1993 when Kathryn George decided to put her students’ big band to the test and lead the April 25 march.

Thirty years later and it is one of the largest single school marching bands in the country, playing in every Brisbane Anzac Day since 1995.

“We’re actually the largest by far the largest band in the parade,“ she said.

“We take up almost a block.”

Kathryn George, who is the head of performing arts at Mackay North State High School won the Order of Australia Medal in 2019. Photo Emma Murray

Today, 90 students from Mackay North State High will drive 16 hours to Brisbane for the annual Anzac Day parade on Friday, and it is something they have been preparing for since last year.

“You know we’ve got to make sure we keep the standard really high,” Ms George said.

“It’s a very streamlined procedure and we have refined it over the years.

“I just love it and it gives me such pleasure to see that it’s something unique at our school.”

Ms George, now an Order of Australia recipient for her services to school music ensembles, oversees $200,000 worth of music equipment, a big upgrade from the three broken xylophones and out-of-tune piano she started with in 1979.

Year 9 students from Mackay North High School, Emma Young and Neah Rodgers, preparing for a musical event in 2019.

The band has grown to 130 members and has since gained a reputation around the world as one of the leading school bands, representing Queensland at the 2000 Sydney Olympics then going on to represent Australia at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

In 2012, the school was also invited to participate in the 2011 Shanghai Tourism Festival.

“The students are all gifted and talented and having these wonderful opportunities,” Ms George said.

“But at the same time they’re giving back to the community and I’m using their talent, you know, using their talent for the better of the community.”

Mackay North High School will join about 15 other bands from across the state this Friday as the only public school to perform.

“I just love it. It’s just my passion and you know every year when we start marching I’ll get goosebumps,” she said.