The musicians of Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band are dedicated professional and semi-professional brass, reed, and percussion players whose performance is as close to that of a late 19th-century professional touring band as is possible today. Like bands from that era, the group ranges from six players to a full ensemble of 30. It usually tours with 17 reed, brass and percussion players.

The band only plays music that would have been heard between the end of the Civil War and the advent of the Sousa Band in 1892, primarily dance music. Concerts feature the most popular examples of polkas, waltzes, quicksteps, schottisches and mazurkas, as well as the march.

Playing old brass instruments is a chore and puts the contemporary musician at a disadvantage. Using an original mouthpiece adds an even higher road block. However, the Newberry group has overcome these obstacles with great skill and their use of original equipment certainly allows them to enter the Victorian sound-world with greater ability than most period brass ensembles. 

The band is managed by Michael O’Connor and has appeared at Vintage Band Festival on six previous occasions. The band will perform at 6:00pm on Thursday, July 30 at the Grand Event Center in Northfield and on the Bridge Square Stage at 5:00pm on Friday. For the complete schedule of VBF 2026, visit vintagebandfestival.org/vbf-2026.