Brass Band megathread

[anadmai]

CONGRATS.

What band are you playing with?

[Mp4G]

CONGRATS.

What band are you playing with?

Lancaster British Brass Band. Do I know you?

[anadmai]

*waves hi*

I’m the new 2nd baritone player. I’ll be starting in a few weeks. I spotted you when I came to visit on 4.25. Noticed your horn from across the room. ☺️

Lancaster British Brass Band. Do I know you?

[Jhnthn]

This thread is taking a turn, but the coincidence has caught me by surprise. I play euphonium in the Houston Brass Band, but my family is moving up to Philadelphia for my wife's job. I am hoping to stay involved in a British Brass Band and I know of two around there, Lancaster and Penn View. I would love to check out your next performance!

Any chance ya'll commute from Philly or do ya'll live closer to Lancaster?

[anadmai]

Hi there.

I live NW of Philadelphia with my wife and two daughters in the Reading, PA area. Starting in September I’ll be back in the city each Monday evening to play in a LGBT related group.

Penn View?

[anadmai]

I didn’t know Penn View existed. They’re literally up the road from my office.

[spkissane]

Brass Band megathread

Dave - please let me know if this is an ok place to put this.

I was inspired to make this thread because so many members of this forum either play in one or more brass bands or are generally just enthusiastic about brass banding. I thought we could all share our experiences, who we play with, who we've played with in the past, what rep we love, championship/contest stuff, etc., etc., etc.

So to start - Hi, I'm Sean. I currently play first euphonium with the Crossroads Brass Band in Indianapolis, of which I've been a member for 5-6 years, as well as the Indianapolis Brass Choir, which is not a traditional brass band but plays a LOT of brass band music/arrangements (similar to River City). I've played in the IBC for around 10 years. I have been a section mate of Jim Williams (Snorlax on this forum) in both of these groups. I have also been a brief member of the Cincinnati Brass Band as well as the board of NABBA (would have loved to have stayed on, but I just didn't have the time to dedicate to it).

Hopefully this thread takes off. I'd love to hear from everyone else and share in this particular genre that I love so much!

[aroberts781]

I will jump in to share my experience. As I have discussed previously on the forum I was away from the euphonium for about 7 years after finishing up college. Up until that point my only playing experience was in an American concert band setting and tuba-euphonium ensembles. After I bought my horn in 2014, I spent about 6 months getting my chops into some sort of shape and then started looking for a group to play with and came across the Brass Band of Nashville in Nashville, TN.

It was certainly based on the Brass Band mold but with a few non-standard instrumentation modifications. Specifically, the tuba section just played what they had. If I recall most everyone was on either BBb or CC, I don't think anyone played EEb. We had no baritones, so our whole section played on a mixed bag of euphoniums ranging from 4-valve compensators, oval rotaries, and 4 valve non-comp American-style baritones. We did not use tenor horns, we instead had a French horn section.

I loved playing in that group and had a lot of fun. We played a mix of brass band charts and band/orchestra transcriptions. I think the non-standard instrument adjustments help make it accessible for people in the community to come as they were, and I loved having the French horn sound. The group was not involved in competing or touring much. We played a a concert every quarter at our home base, which was a local church, and also 1-2 concerts at local community music festival -type things. A highlight for me was performing on stage at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, a beautiful hall.

There was a more traditional brass band out of Chattanooga that we occasionally did joint concerts with as well.

Anyways, there is my brass band story, though admittedly a bit of a non-traditional one. I certainly owe a lot of my post-college musical fulfillment to that group.

Edit: Just wanted to add that most of the music for that group was arranged by one of the long-time members of the Brass Band of Nashville, Albert Turriciano, who was a retired US Air Force musician and a wonderful arranger and trombone player.

[RickF]

Good idea Sean in starting this thread! I'm going to move a few posts here from the 'Baritone Buying' thread since they were off topic.

Unfortunately those moved were placed above Sean's first post. Don't know why.

[stevevaughn]

Cool idea!

My introduction to brass band was through drum corps. I marched with Phantom Regiment from 2009-2011, and my first year the entire last half of our production was taken from the great work 'Paganini Variations' by Philip Wilby. I remember one day during spring training we listened to all of the source music on a rainy afternoon with JD (the brass caption head at the time), and when we listened to the Wilby piece I was blown away! I had no idea what I was hearing, but I was hooked!

When I moved to Colorado in 2013 to start my MM degree I started playing with a local brass band (non-competitive) called Rocky Mountain Brassworks. Really great group that sits at about the 2nd section in NABBA if they competed. We did about a concert a month or so, and every concert was in a packed auditorium! The guy who runs that group, Doug Harris, knows how to put together a great concert with a theme that's fun for players and the audience. That's where I got "used to" the brass band instrumentation and learned a lot of repertoire. We would occasionally play some championship level stuff and we programmed 'Of Distant Memories' one concert cycle, and I realized I really enjoyed playing test pieces.

I played with that group for 2 years, and then there was an opening for Pikes Peak Brass Band (about an hour and a half south of Denver) which is/was a competitive 1st section band. I sat on 2nd Eb Tuba my first year and then moved to the solo euphonium chair the next year. I remember sitting in the first rehearsal with that group and I could barely keep up with how much sound was coming out of the band, but I freakin loved it! The music was great, and the people were great! I took a year off after 2 years with that group, and then the following year I auditioned for Colorado Brass which was a new-ish group that competed in the Championship division, which is ultimately what I wanted; to play that level of music in a competitive group. I joined them in 2019-20, and was super excited to do NABBA 2020 in the championship section on solo euph, then COVID hit. I had my first taste of playing in the solo euph chair in a championship level brass band competing at NABBA 2022 this past April and I can't wait for the next one!

Favorite non-test piece I've played would be the Sandy Smith arrangement of Los Hermanos de Bop - super fun!
Favorite test piece I've played - Of Distant Memories
Favorite test piece I want to play! - Vita Aeterna Variations

[DaveBj]

I played with the Brass Band of Huntsville for 6-ish years, appearing as a walk-on with my euph, and eventually winding up playing bari (I bought my own horn). The experience prompted a musical growth spurt for me, and I was glad that the band would take up pop arrangements just as quickly as hardcore brass band literature. However, eventually age (I was, as I recall, the oldest member of the group) and distance (I had the longest commute) caught up with me; I got tired of driving thru dark stormy nights. But I ended on a high note, the premier of Stephen Bulla's "Von Braun Suite" in July, 2019, at the Space Center.

[anadmai]

I grew up in The Salvation Army. At 14 I made my first youth band. At 19, I was playing 2nd baritone in the New York Staff Band. When I left a few years later I basically stopped playing for good. 28 years later I'm back playing and about to play 2nd Baritone with the Lancaster Brass Band. So much has changed over the years, starting with myself, but looking forward to rebuilding my embouchure in a setting which feels like home. I actually started playing in February of this year with a LGBT related wind ensemble out of Philadelphia. It's a good group and allowed me to slowly start to get back up on my feet again. I have my euphonium band and my baritone band. Not too shabby. My wife isn't a musician and when we married, returning to playing wasn't on the table. Now that it is, she just rolls her eyes. Oh she has no idea what's she's in for. I'll be the mom living out of the shed in the backyard. (at least I'll have a place to practice...LOL)

I loved and hated growing up in The Salvation Army, mainly hated, but the music at the time was second to none. Today when I see the names of composers I grew up with, it's like a pseudo homecoming every time. Who knows what the future will hold? I just have to work on rebuilding my chops and see what happens.

[Jhnthn]

Just noticed the thread was moved!

I graduated college from Howard Payne University in 2014 then started playing in The Woodlands Concert Band north of Houston. They are a great group led by Paul Worosello. In my time there we got to play at Texas Bandmaster's Association under the direction of Frank Ticheli in 2015! I played with them for 3 years before becoming a band director just a little too far away to make the commute in 2017.

I play regularly, but didn't get the chance to perform again until after the Houston Brass Band resumed live concerts in 2021 under the direction of Dr. Rick Spitz. They originally needed a 2nd trombone but I brought my euphonium hoping they would need it just in case. There were a few absent from the first rehearsal and after cueing an empty chair a few too many times in a row, Dr. Spitz had me pull out my Euphonium. Playing euphonium in a Brass Band was a bucket-list moment for me since there weren't many opportunities like that near my hometown in Brownwood, TX. It's been fun and I get to play 1st euphonium at our 4th of July concert coming up.

The next chapter of my life is a big move. My wife got a job in copy-editing near Philadelphia which is great! Now we get to move up to a state that has 4 seasons opposed to 4 different levels of summer. I am not familiar with all the band opportunities up there, but I did find the Penn View Brass Band and they've welcomed me to play with them and for that I am grateful. That said, if ya'll know of other opportunities or recommendations, let me know!

[MichaelSchott]

Great thread. Following my college graduation I played in a good community band. In the early 1990’s I became aware of the Brass Band of Battle Creek which kindled my interest in brass banding. In 1996 the Motor City Brass Band was started and I became a member as the principal euphonium. In 2015 I moved to the Five Lakes Silver Band, a fine NABBA First Section band. Covid and other circumstances moved me out of the brass band world and I now play in a fine community concert band affiliated with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. I miss the great brass band pieces and euph parts but not the pressure or time commitment of being a competition band member.

[mbrooke]

Wish there weer more brass bands in D.C. area. I would love to try one. There are two professional level groups that I know of, but the only community type brass band are much too far.

Mike