Vintage Band Festival 2016 Band Roster

March 14, 2016

For immediate release

Artistic Director: Paul Niemisto, vintagebandfestival@gmail.com; 612-308-6857

Media Contact: Dan Bergeson, bergeson@northfieldwifi.com; 507-581-0553

Northfield, Minnesota—The Board of Directors of Vintage Band Festival has announced the roster for Vintage Band Festival 2016 scheduled to take place in Northfield July 28-31, 2016. 2016 marks the tenth anniversary for the Vintage Band Festival organization which has staged five previous events. Festivals in 2006, 2010 and 2013 were four-day affairs and those in 2014 and 2015 were each one-day “Mini-Fests.”

There will be both international and domestic bands at this year’s festival. The international bands are traveling to Minnesota from Belgium, Germany and Sweden. The domestic bands represent seven states: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Minnesota bands comprise the largest contingent with 18 bands on the list. The complete roster can be found here.

Vintage Band Festival 2016 will showcase seven bands making their first appearance at the festival. Four of the first-timers are Civil War re-enactor bands, one is a brass quartet, one is a clarinet sextet and one is a Hispanic “Banda”, Banda la Verdadera, from Minneapolis, MN. Two of the Civil War bands are from Iowa, one is from Illinois and one is from Indiana.

Bridge Square Main Stage headliners at the Vintage Band Festival 2016 will be Copper Street Brass, Jack Brass Band, Banda la Verdadera and Brass Messengers.

Vintage Band Festival 2016 is a four-day brass and wind extravaganza taking place in multiple locations throughout Northfield and surrounding southern Minnesota communities. 30 bands will present over 100 concerts during the festival in parks, churches, retirement communities, veterans clubs, bars and pubs. The festival is free and open to the public. Complete information can be found at www.vintagebandfestival.org.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Fall 2015 Report to Friends of VBF

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

 One Day Festival August 1, 2015

Our second one-day event on August 1 was a tremendous success. 12 bands played on the Bridge Square stage during the 12-hour festival and donations from the audience reached $8,000. Thanks to Riverwalk Market Fair for another fruitful collaboration!

Financial Update

On August 3, 2015 Vintage Band Festival was able to meet all of its past obligations, pay for the expenses of the 2015 one-day festival and continue into the fall with a positive cash balance. Since that time, additional donations and grant awards have resulted in a cash balance of $20,000. Since the projected budget of the 2016 festival is approximately $100,000, $80,000 remains to be raised. We plan to accomplish this with a combination of grants, business sponsorships and appeals to VBF friends like you!

Homecoming at Fort Snelling

VBF sponsored the music for the reenactment of the 150th anniversary of the 2nd Minnesota Infantry’s homecoming at historic Fort Snelling on August 15.  Thanks to The Manitou Regimental Band for a fabulous job!

Vintage Band Festival Presents

VBF hosted three amazing educational programs during the fall. On September 28 Paul Maybery gave a presentation on the history of brass bands in the United States. William Crowder, “Bugler Bill”, was in period dress on October 26 and demonstrated dozens of bugle calls in a “day in the life” of the United States Army infantry. On November 23, Joy Riggs read from her forthcoming biography of her great grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, a real-life music man. Thanks to our friends at the Northfield Retirement Center and the Northfield Senior Center for being great partners in this effort.

 News from the Board of Directors

Jesse Streitz joined the Board at the November meeting. Jesse is a recently retired local business owner and a fine clarinetist. Welcome Jesse! Jim Haas, VBF Treasurer, announced his plans to resign from the Board at the end of 2015. Thanks to Jim for his outstanding work during the past two years!

VBF Secures SEMAC Grant

Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council awarded Vintage Band Festival a $10,000 Arts and Culture Heritage Grant in November. The money will be used to support the participation of a number of Midwest bands in the 2016 festival. Thanks to Board Secretary Joy Riggs for her successful grant application.

2016 Festival

The next multi-day Vintage Band Festival is scheduled for July 28-31, 2016. The band roster is nearing completion and promises to be an outstanding array of variety and talent. 2016 will be the 10-year anniversary of Vintage Band Festival and next year’s festival will be the sixth staging of this unique blend of brass and wind music,

You Can Help!

Please consider a year-end tax-deductible donation to Vintage Band Festival. You can make a secure donation on our website, vintagebandfestival.org, or send a check to Vintage Band Festival, 204 W. 7th St.., Box130, Northfield, MN 55057.

VBF Receives $10,000 SEMAC Grant

Vintage Band Festival is pleased to announce that on November 17, 2015 VBF received a $10,000 Arts and Culture Heritage Grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC). This grant will be used to support several Minnesota bands that will be appearing in the next Vintage Band Festival July 28-31, 2016.

SEMAC awarded 38 grants in this cycle for a total of $234,460 in funding to applicants throughout southeastern Minnesota. This included eight Presenter/Production Assistance grants for $22,500, eight Small Towns/Rural Areas grants for $19,605, and 22 Arts & Cultural Heritage grants for $192,355.

Many thanks for the efforts of Joy Riggs, Vintage Band Festival Board member and Secretary, for her fine work in writing a successful application. This is the second SEMAC grant that Joy has written. The first was a $4,000 General Operating Support grant awarded in August 2015.

Vintage Band Festival Educational Series

Monday September 28, 2015: 3:15pm at the Northfield Retirement Center Chapel and 7:00 PM at the Northfield Senior Center Performance Room. Paul Mayberry of Savage, MN, music historian, arranger and conductor (as well as a tuba player} is our inaugural  speaker.  He is well known for finding  brass band music from the 19th century and arranging it for bands to perform today.  He arranged the music for Ken Burns’ television series on the Civil War and on baseball.  Paul will bring rare 19th century brass band instruments, photographs and recordings to present a program on the Story of Brass Bands in America.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Bugler bill stillMonday October 26, 2015: 3:15pm at the Northfield Retirement Center Chapel and 7:00 PM at the Northfield Senior Center Performance Room. Bugler Bill, a Civil War Re-enactor and bugle historian from the Twin Cities will present a lively program on Civil War  Bugler history and do all the calls “in character.”    He is a popular presenter at Civil War Round Tables and in schools. He will bring several bugles  to show and to play. There’s a well-done Youtube video here that previews Bugler Bill’s presentation.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
my musical family posterMonday November 23, 2015: 3:15pm at the Northfield Retirement Center Chapel and 7:00 PM at the Northfield Senior Center Performance Room. Northfield’s own Joy Riggs will give us the highlights of a book she is writing about her own Great Grandfather G. Oliver Riggs, a 19th and early 20th Century Midwestern Band Director, a real live Music Man.  He toured with a band in the early 20th Century that visited Civil War Battle Fields to dedicate monuments to Soldiers from the upper Midwest.  Joy comes from generations of music educators and is a dedicated volunteer for many music groups in Northfield,  serving on the Board of Directors for the Northfield Youth Choirs and for the Vintage Band Festival.  She is an award winning magazine columnist, writer and a blogger at My Musical Family.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

VBF 2015 General News Release

T0:                                         Southern Minnesota Media Outlets

WHAT:                                  Vintage Band Festival Mini-Fest

WHEN:                                  August 1, 2015

WHERE:                                Bridge Square, Northfield, MN

CONTACT INFO :                Rachel Gaul (gaul@stolaf.edu)

 

Northfield, Minnesota—July 13, 2015

Vintage Band Festival will present a one-day mini-festival on August 1, 2015 in downtown Northfield, Minnesota. There will be 12 different brass and wind bands playing throughout the day from 9am-9pm. Each band will have the stage for 45 minutes and the musical formats will range from Civil War to Old-Time to Jazz to Ethnic. There will be a German band, several community bands, a Mariachi Band and the “Red Bull Band” from the 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota National Guard. Perennial favorites include the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band and the Copper Street Brass Quintet.

From 9am-1pm, Vintage Band Festival will be sharing Bridge Square with Riverwalk Market Fair, a street fair with a collection of local art vendors showcasing photography, painting, pottery, jewelry as well as local farmers and food artisans.

Listeners should bring a lawn chair or a blanket and may stay for a couple hours or the whole day. Food will be available onsite from Maria’s Taco Hut, Cannon Valley Lion’s Club, Johnny Pops and the Moravian Church or attendees can visit any of Northfield’s fine restaurants many of which are within several blocks of the festival site. For the complete schedule and any possible schedule updates, visit the Vintage Band Festival website.

Paul Niemisto, Artistic Director of Vintage Band Festival is available for interviews by phone or in person. Please contact Rachel Gaul (gaul@stolaf.edu) for more information and an appointment.

Spring 2015 Report from Vintage Band Festival

Great news since the fall 2014 report was sent out:

  • The VBF received a First Place Award, Non-Profits, for our presence in the 2014 Defeat of Jesse James Parade last September! We had the Bridge Square Band riding on a hayrack and pulled by a tractor, following several WW II military vehicles carrying veterans. We expect to continue our participation in this event to honor veterans and provide brass band music.
  • It is with a sense of satisfaction that we report that with your help we have raised over 80% of the funds needed to pay off our debt from the 2013 four day festival. We expect to have our 2013 financial debt fully paid off by August 2015. In addition, the VBF produced a very enjoyable one-day mini festival in August 2014 on Bridge Square.
  • The VBF board researched and leased an excellent donor management program. “Kindful” is a terrific tool to help us do more efficient fund raising and data management. Donors now have access to their own donation data plus the program enables easier communication with our loyal supporters.

What we are doing in 2015:

  • Multiple grant applications have been made and more are in progress. These grants are for both our August 1, 2015 one-day festival and our 2016 four-day festival, July 28-31.
  • Board members who are available meet weekly to work on our funding and planning. The official board meetings are once per month with full attendance.
  • We are communicating with the City of Northfield to schedule the August 1 event, close down streets, set up the Northfield Rotary Club Showmobile (Wenger) and other matters, including insurance and permits.
  • The board negotiates with other non- profit organizations we share the square with during our festivals, including Riverwalk Market Fair and Northfield Downtown Development Corporation.
  • Committees are being developed and filled for the 2015 and 2016 festivals.
  • Bands continue to ask about our festivals and ask perform in them. Time is required to vet them.
  • Funding is being sought for new bands and for favorites as well as well as funds for general operations. This is primarily donations but also advertising dollars.
  • Looking for new partners to expand our audience and share the expenses and work load.
  • Small groups and individual board members are making personal visits to individuals, businesses, and non-profits for VBF targeted fundraising.

VBF auxiliary programs in 2015

The first was on April 12 at the Northfield Senior Center, recognizing the 150th Anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln. The St. Olaf Manitou Regimental Band accompanied a Civil War sing-a-long at 3 PM in the Senior Center Theater Room. Prior to the music St. Olaf Pastor Emeritus, Bruce Benson, shared Lincoln’s immortal words from the Second Inaugural Address. We partnered with the Northfield Senior Center and the Cannon Valley Civil War Round Table. The Northfield Senior Center and the Cannon Valley Civil War Round Table supported the expenses for this event. In period dress, Jan Stevens, the VBF President, introduced the performers. That same week Northfield’s Bridge Square Band (a VBF regular) played in Civil War dress for an April 14th Northfield Historical Society re-enactment of “Our American Cousin” to commemorate the anniversary of President Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre.

This fall there will be three Vintage Band programs scheduled on September 28, October 26 and November 23 at 3:15 PM in the Northfield Retirement Center Community Chapel (which will also be broadcast to shut-ins.) The same day the programs will each be presented a second time at 7 PM at the Senior Center with dessert and coffee afterwards. The Northfield Senior Center is providing space, funding, publicity and refreshments for the programs. The VBF provides the programming. Our plan is to continue year-round programming on vintage band music with historical and social context.

While the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War is ended, we will continue to provide Civil War Music at the festivals. Brass Band Music from the WW I era as well as period Jazz and Swing will be added to our programming. The VBF Board has established a relationship with the 34th Infantry Division Band (the Red Bull Band) of the Minnesota National Guard based in Rosemount, MN. Various ensembles from the Red Bulls will be participating in our upcoming festivals, including jazz, historical, and show bands. We plan to add a special program honoring our military veterans at our mini-festivals as well as continuing our special performances at the Northfield Veterans’ Memorial and cemeteries in Northfield and Cannon Falls during our big festivals. Two Board Members are active in Minnesota Civil War Round Tables. This relationship is building a new audience for the VBF as the 150th Civil War Anniversary Activities are coming to an end.

Since WW I, military bands have not had a role during military action. Bands are used for troop ceremonies and public relations. These military bands are in danger of severe reduction nationally because of budget stresses, while public school music programs are also suffering reductions. The VBF works to provide our community with live music and recognize the institutions that create this music.

Partnering with other organizations in our community and our state is a great way to continue the joy and excitement of the Vintage Band Festivals all year around. We think this is a reasonable and practical way to continue and to expand this splendid festival. The VBF Board Members feel called to expand the impact and enjoyment of vintage band music. The combination of top quality live music, history and pageantry is thrilling and engaging!

Vintage Band Festival 2013 Report to Donors

November 22, 2013

2013 was the best Vintage Band Festival yet.  Bands from Sweden, Germany, Austria, Texas, Chicago, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota converged on Northfield Minnesota for 5 days of intense brass wind music.   Artistic director Paul Niemisto designed the festival to showcase vintage brass music, and to highlight the best of contemporary brass music from New Orleans jazz to Chicago shout bands to professional European brass ensembles.  Bringing all these together in one place makes the Vintage Band Festival unique in North America.

VBF 2013 was exponentially larger than either of the previous festivals. 35 bands provided a combined total of 134 unique musical experiences. In 2010, concerts were staged in seven communities beyond Northfield.  For 2013 we added six more towns to make a total of 13: Faribault, New Ulm, Cannon Falls, Red Wing, Chatfield, New Prague, Minneapolis, Scandia, St. Peter, Owatonna, Nerstrand, Montgomery and Kasota.

Staffing for VBF 2013 followed a similar format to the previous two festivals, though more people were required due to the increase in the number of band, communities and events.  A platoon of volunteers run the festival, ably coordinated this year by our omni-competent St. Olaf College interns Mitch Evett and Ramsey Walker.  The VBF website was completely redesigned to give concert-goers far more information. The online event schedule was transformed into an interactive experience complete with a biography of each band, a photo of the band and a Google map showing directions to the concert location. An additional Google map displayed all of the concert locations and directions to each one. Free audio samplers of most of the bands were made available using the SoundCloud service.

FESTIVAL GROWTH         2006-2013

Budget                 Bands                    Events                  Attendance        Communities

2006         $38,000               20                           36                           9,000                    2

2010       $100,000              25                           91                           12,000                   8

2013       $170,000              35                           134                         15,000                   14

What’s Next for the Vintage Band Festival

Artistic growth has exceeded our administrative infrastructure and fundraising ability, which needs to grow to match our artistic reach.  We need to recruit board members with specific skills, add to our administrative structure, and pay off about $50,000 in accumulated debt from the three Vintage Band Festivals.  We feel we are at a not-unexpected place for a young festival. We believe we are at a not-unexpected place in our organizational life.  We have established a successful festival unique in North America, and now need to build additional organizational infrastructure to support it.  We believe the $170,000 we spent this year is a reasonable budget to put on a festival of this caliber, and we also believe we can raise that level of support for each festival going forward, given the dedicated audience we have built.

From now through 2014 we expect to

  • Recruit additional board members with specific skills in finance, administration, and fundraising.
  • Improve our communication with and outreach to friends and donors.
  • Establish an annual giving club – our very own “Band-aid” to support VBF in planning as well as in festival years.
  • Extinguish the approximately $50,000 in debt we have accumulated.

By 2015 and 2016 we expect to

  • Hire our first part time administrator to manage preparations for the festival.
  • Program and present the 4th, and best yet, Vintage Band Festival 2016.

What the Vintage Band Festival Needs from Our Friends

  1. Board members with specific skills in finance, administration, and fundraising.  If you would like to nominate someone or volunteer, please let us know.
  2. Friends who will consider holding part of our accumulated deficit as no-interest loans for a period of two years while we negotiate payments and increase our fundraising capacity.
  3. Dedicated supporters who will pledge an annual gift to the Vintage Band Festival so we have adequate planning funds in the off years.  We especially appreciate annual gifts of $100, $500, or even $1,000 which can help us build a reliable income.
  4. Gifts of any amount now so we can build up an advance reserve fund for the 2016 Vintage Band Festival.

Thank you for your past support of the Vintage Band Festival.  You, our friends and audience, are a vital part of the Vintage Band Festival experience.

Paul Niemisto, Artistic Director

Jan Stevens, President of the Board of Directors

“Old-time bands bring the brass for Northfield festivals” via the Star Tribune

Read a recent article about the Vintage Band Festival in the Star Tribune here. (Written by Liz Rolfsmeier.)

“Band festival restores vintage sounds” via the Rochester Post-Bulletin

The Vintage Band Festival was recently mentioned in the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Read the article here.