Category Archives: Historical Narratives

Meet the VBF 2024 bands: The Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band

The Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band from St. Paul, Minnesota was established in 1962 to preserve and advance Celtic piping, drumming, and dancing. They are one of the oldest existing pipe bands in the Upper Midwest. Over the years the Brian Boru Band has become a fixture in parades, celebrations, dances, and an increasing number of private festivities. They play for local, regional, and national events, adding a sense of tradition and spirit of pageantry to every program in which we participate The band has performed with the Chieftains, Green Day, Blink-182 and Rod Stewart as well as local acts like The Northerly Gales, Wookiefoot and Mactir Academy of Irish Dance.

The distinctive Irish uniforms — the saffron kilt, black tunic, and black cabeen (beret) with green or red plumes — are modeled after traditional Irish pipe bands. A number of the band members wear the original brass buttons from uniforms of the Irish Volunteers, the very units involved in the historic Easter Uprising in Dublin, 1916. Officers of the Brian Boru Band, recognized by the distinctive red sash worn across their left shoulder, choose the tunes you hear.

Some of the music performed by the Brian Boru Band came out of that fierce era of Ireland’s past. Other pieces are more modern, and many are much, much older — ancient reels and airs, timeless ballads and war marches, and lively, lighthearted jigs.

Every member of the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band is a volunteer, and each performance represents hours of personal time dedicated to providing our listeners with the finest pipe and drum music available.

The Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band will perform at 12:00 pm on July 27 at VBF 2024. See the complete schedule on the Vintage Band Festival website.

The Northfield City Band of 1917

In the VBF 2022 Official Program, the Northfield Historical Society placed an ad with a picture of a community band from the early 20^th century. The bass drum in the picture had the words “Northfield Minnesota City Band” painted on it. No one on the VBF board had ever seen the photograph before and a couple of members decided to track down the provenance of the photo and the occasion for which the band posed for the photographer. The photograph was found on the Northfield-Rice County History Collection, a digital collaboration by nearly 20 Rice County entities with archival collections, including the Northfield Historical Society.

Jeff Sauve, the curator of the Northfield Historical Society at the time, gave the VBF Marketing Committee permission to use the photograph and the decision was subsequently made to put it on the cover of the 2023 Official Program.

According to the Northfield News of June 24, 1980, the band in the photograph was chosen to play at the Grandstand of the Minnesota State Fair, about 1917. The photograph was taken outside the grandstand. The band members were identified as follows: Left to right, front row: Pete Johnson, Art Sunde, Merril Lawrence, George Mohn, Hjalmar Berge, Lawrence Emmons, Leonard Obrech, Eugene Lee, Lester Batson, Carl Gulbrandson, Robert Babcock, Norman Lende, George LaPointe; back row: Bernard Gimmestad, Roy Palmer, Theodore Carel, Roman Berke, Pat Brown, Al Haue, William Dunn, unidentified, Leon Neulen, Walter Fink, Earl Page and Harry Emmons.

Thanks to Jeff Sauve and the Northfield Historical Society for allowing us to use the photograph in our 2023 marketing efforts.

Musical History on Display at VBF 2022

Since the beginning of Vintage Band Festival in 2006, the core of the multi-day event has been the appearance of historic reenactor bands from around the country. Vintage Band Festival 2022 will be no different.

Dodworth Saxhorn Band

Today’s Dodworth Saxhorn Band is modeled after the Dodworth Band of New York City, which was the premier brass band in the United States from the 1840s to the 1880s. The original Dodworth Band was directed by brothers Allen and Harvey Dodworth who were among the most highly respected musicians and bandmasters of the 19th Century. In 1985 musical instrument collector Alexander Pollock created the modern DSB as a living history project. The band performs 19th century music including compositions and arrangements from the Smithsonian Institute, the Library of Congress, private collections and university libraries as well as a few new arrangements by musicologists who are experts in 19th Century brass band style and instrumentation.

The DSB is led by Music Director Mark Felder and Artistic Director Lori Gould. Dodworth Saxhorn Band is returning to Vintage Band Festival after a nine year absence!

Independent Silver Band

In 1884 to 1889 the prosperous and energetic Illinois community of Mt.Vernon enjoyed the music of its own Independent Silver Band. In July, 2004, the music of the Independent Silver Band came to life once more. It is composed of 10 local men, all of whom attended the same church and Sunday school. By bringing together interested brass players and percussionists from Mt.Vernon and surrounding cities and towns in southern Illinois, the Independent Silver Band is composed of the proper team of dedicated persons, all of whom shared the vision to give audiences the chance to hear the music of a bygone time. The band leader of Independent Silver Band is William Reynolds.

Kentucky Baroque Trumpets

Don Johnson was inspired to play the baroque trumpet, also known as the natural trumpet, in 2004 after attending the Historic Brass Society Festival. He introduced his friends to the instrument, and they formed a group dedicated to re-creating its sounds and styles, including signal calls, cavalry music, dance music, duets, solo music and trumpet with voice, which requires playing in different styles and tone colors. The band members also play modern instruments, and they dedicate part of their performance to educating the audience about the difference between the two types. The band’s Civil War band incarnation, President Lincoln’s Own, performed live in Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln and was selected to be in the National Geographic movie Killing Lincoln. This is the band’s third appearance at Vintage Band Festival.The band is currently led by Don Johnson Jr.

Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band

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 plays only 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. The band is conducted by Elisa Koehler and managed by Michael O’Connor and is making its sixth appearance at Vintage Band Festival.

1^st Brigade Band

The 1st Brigade Band of Watertown, Wisconsin performs period brass band music from the 1860s on antique instruments, dressed in period clothing. They first began in 1864 when the Brodhead Brass Band enlisted in the Union Army as the band of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 15th Army Corps. Upon leaving Wisconsin, they participated in William T.Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea” to Georgia and the Carolinas. In 2009, the 1st Brigade Band was awarded the Rueben Gold Thwaites Trophy for Local History for collecting and preserving history and sharing it with the public. The band leader is Doug Condon. The 1st Brigade Band is making its fifth Vintage Band Festival appearance.

For the complete schedule of Vintage Band Festival 2022, please visit the VBF website.

VBF 2019 USA Bands: Territorial Brass: Arizona’s Official Historical Brass Band

Territorial Brass was formed in February 1987 and was quickly recognized by museums across Arizona as an entertaining living history resource. Dressed in turn-of-the-century costumes, Territorial Brass captures the golden age of the American town band. This twelve-member ensemble specializes in 19th century American brass band music, playing authentic arrangements from 1835, through the Civil War, to Arizona’s year of statehood. It is the goal of Territorial Brass to replicate the brass bands that were active in Arizona and New Mexico during the territorial period. This is the first time that Territorial Brass has performed at Vintage Band Festival.

Territorial Brass

VBF 2019 USA Bands: Imperial Cornet Band

Photo credit: Rob Mesite Photography

The Imperial Cornet Band performs music of the World War I era. Music by Sousa, George M. Cohan, W.C. Handy, Irving Berlin is featured along with selections written and performed by James Reese Europe of the famous 369th Infantry Division, the “Harlem Hellfighters” Regiment. Their programs give audiences a chance to hear what this music sounded like performed by a small band and gain insight on how music was used to further the war effort at home and on the battlefield.

The Imperial Cornet Band performs under the auspices of the Maryland Military Band and is conducted by Jari Villanueva. Mr. Villanueva and several other musicians in the band have played at Vintage Band Festival in the past as members of the Federal City Brass Band or the 26th North Carolina Regimental Band.

Mark your calendars so you can stop by and say hello and hear their concerts of WWI era music!

Thursday August 1 at 8 PM Reunion Restaurant, 501 Division St S, Northfield, MN 55057

-Friday August 2 at 10 AM “The Yanks Are Coming!” Jari Villanueva’s lecture on WWI Bands, Weitz Center for Creativity on the campus of Carleton College in Northfield.

-Friday August 2 at 4 PM Way Park, 720 1st Street West Northfield, MN 55057

-Saturday August 3 at Noon Battle of the Bands Bridge Square, Northfield, MN
-Saturday August 3 at 2 PM Bridge Square, Northfield, MN
-Saturday August 3 at 6pm Northfield Cemetery, Veteran’s Memorial Concert

-Sunday August 4 at 1030 AM Church Service at First United Church of Christ, 300 Union St, Northfield, MN

VBF 2019 USA Bands: Independent Silver Band

Independent Silver Band (IL)

In 1884 to 1889 the prosperous and energetic Illinois community of Mt. Vernon enjoyed the music of its own Independent Silver Band. In July, 2004, the music of the Independent Silver Band came to life once more. It was composed of 10 local men, all of whom attended the same church and Sunday school. By bringing together interested brass players and percussionists from Mt. Vernon and surrounding cities and towns in southern Illinois, the Independent Silver Band assembled the proper team of dedicated persons. They all shared the vision of giving audiences the chance to hear the music of a bygone time. The band leader of Independent Silver Band is William Reynolds.

Independent Silver Band at VBF 2016

VBF 2019 USA Bands: Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band

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 plays only 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. The band is conducted by Elisa Koehler and managed by Michael O’Connor. Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band will be playing on the Way Park Stage at 1pm on August 2 and on the Bridge Square Main Stage at 5pm on August 3.

A Brief History of Vintage Band Festival

What is Vintage Band Festival?

Vintage Band Festival (VBF) is designed to celebrate the beautiful downtown of Northfield, Minnesota as an outdoor music performance venue and an attractive destination for local music and history lovers, as well as for tourists from all over the United States.

VBF strives to create a high quality music listening experience that will satisfy and be memorable; to cultivate the historical theme of our city through emphasis on historical music, dress, dance, and ambience; and to use the entire city as an outdoor performance venue, including parks, retirement centers, as well as Division St areas, and churches.

VBF engages the cooperation of many interested local organizations, institutions and businesses in a united effort to accomplish a great cultural event and to reach audiences of all ages and backgrounds with a wide variety of performances.

VBF has become a destination for nationally and internationally known wind bands as well as for regional and statewide groups.

Mariachi mi Tierra at VBF 2018

Background and History

The “Vintage Band Music Festival” was founded in Northfield in July 2006. The motivation for this new festival stemmed from often-expressed general feeling among Northfield arts supporters that the city is a ready-made outdoor performance venue waiting to host a significant event. VBF was an idea developed by Artistic Director Paul Niemisto, inspired by his previous experiences with similar festivals such as The Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in western Finland, the Lieksa International Brass Week, held annually in eastern Finland in late July, and the Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky, the only other event of its kind in the U.S.

Matterhorn Alphorns at VBF 2006

Another motivator for 2006 Festival came from having the International Society for the Promotion and Research of Wind Music, (International Gesellschaft zur Erforschung und Förderung der Blasmusik) and the Historic Brass Society hold their joint academic conference concurrent with the VBF event. The idea of a “major music festival” and “a major international music conference” taking place in Northfield began to develop in 2002, and the resulting synergy allowed for a successful outcome for both events. The academic conference, while not essential to the VBF festival, did lend the whole event an importance that was significant for the inaugural event. The Historic Brass Society returns for each large conference. (http://www.historicbrass.org/)

The models and subsequent plans for the first VBF 2006 created a success far beyond expectations. 50 musical performances were presented in 2006 by 20 ensembles over four days. Additional festivals have taken place in 2010 (4 days), 2013 (4 days), 2014 (1 day), 2015 (1 day), 2016 (4 days), 2017 (1 day), and 2018 (1 day). Recent multi-day events now have 35 or more bands and present more than 100 performances in the Northfield/Dundas area and surrounding communities.

Today Vintage Band Festival has an international reputation and enjoys a treasured place in the cultural life of southern Minnesota. VBF 2019 will take place August 1-4, 2019.

–Paul Niemisto

The Cowboy Band Returns!!

For Immediate Release

November 4, 2016

(Northfield, MN)– In 1912, a cowboy band and a group of Blackfeet Indians from newly developed Glacier National Park traveled to expositions in Minneapolis and Chicago to promote the state of Montana. Hired by Great Northern Railway President Louis W. Hill, the son of James J. Hill, the musical ensemble included a cornet soloist named G. Oliver Riggs.

Award-winning freelance journalist Joy Riggs, the great-granddaughter of G. Oliver Riggs, will tell the story of this unusual adventure in an engaging presentation on Monday, November 14. Joy will speak at 3:30 p.m. at the Northfield Retirement Center Chapel, 900 Cannon Valley Drive West, and again at 7 p.m. at the Northfield Senior Center, 1651 Jefferson Parkway. This Vintage Band Festival educational event is free and open to the public.

Joy is writing a book of memoir and history about the extraordinary exploits of her paternal great-grandfather, a pioneering Minnesota band director. She received a 2015 emerging artist grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC), and she serves on the board of the Vintage Band Festival. She blogs about her book project and her family’s adventures in making and appreciating music at mymusicalfamily.blogspot.com. Joy grew up in Alexandria, Minn., and has lived in Northfield for the past 18 years with her husband and their three children.

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 Celebrates 10 years: 2006-2016

For Immediate Release

July 1, 2016

Vintage Band Festival Celebrates 10 Years: July 28-31, 2016

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

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

(Northfield, MN) – Northfield, located in southern Minnesota — known for its appreciation of music and history — has become a travel destination within the Midwest sought out for its authentic experience. The Vintage Band Festival, to be held July 28-31, will be the highlight of the summer as it welcomes re-enactment bands from across the US and abroad to “dust off their horns and old sheet music” and bring music to life — in all of its glory — from days gone by.

The international festival boasts 100 concerts at outdoor parks, performance stages, dining establishments and pubs in the picturesque river town of Northfield and at a multitude of festival concert sites in nearby communities. Find a full schedule of “living history” performances, auxiliary events and attractions, plus a sample travel itinerary for discovering more treasures in southern Minnesota, at www.vintagebandfestival.org.

Amid the vast collection of performing bands that accentuate cultural influences, genres and period-inspired repertoires several Midwest historic revival bands are participating in this year’s Festival. Today’s audience can hear what Presidents Lincoln and Davis, Generals Lee and Grant, and their contemporaries heard in their

The 1st Brigade Band, from Watertown, Wisconsin, dressed in navy blue uniforms takes as its inspiration the eighteen men from the Brodhead Brass Band who enlisted in the Union Army in 1864 as the Band of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 15^th U.S. Army Corps. They served under the command of General William T. Sherman. After locating and restoring dented and broken instruments and reconstructing torn music sheets, the 1^st Brigade Band continues this musical legacy from 150 years ago. This will be the third time this band has performed at the Vintage Band Festival.

Another ensemble which will relive music of the 19th Century is the Independent Silver Band (ISB) of Mount Vernon, Illinois. Back in its heyday, the community enjoyed “first class entertainment and boundless enjoyment” as the ISB played for “balls, picnics, parties, political rallies, and more.” By bringing together interested brass players and percussionists from Mt. Vernon and surrounding cities and towns in southern Illinois, William L. Reynolds created a proper team of dedicated persons who could provide the chance to hear the music of a bygone time. With their very stylish green uniforms, unique helmets, and a complete “show” with narration, they will be coming to Northfield to entertain for a second time.

19^th century brass bands have been described as having sweet and mellow intonations, but to have survived and flourished in a time of great conflict within our country, the music served a broader, brasher purpose that uplifted the morale of its people during an era of clashing dissonance. This unforgettable time would become a defining part of our national heritage and have a pronounced and resounding effect on the history of music in America today.

2016 is also within the centennial period of World War I and some bands will honor this history and present an additional focus for the Festival. A highlight will be an outdoor Victory Dance with the Buddy Koopmans Swing Orchestra on Saturday night.

While the bands will perform individual concerts on all of the Festival days, on Saturday, July 30th, the Battle of the Bands takes place at noon on the Riverfront. Many community bands from all over Minnesota will also be included in the schedule each day. Evening entertainment will include appearances by Copper Street Brass, Jack Brass Band and Banda La Verdadera, all well-known professional ensembles from the metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Brass bands have been important in Minnesota since the 1850s. The Great Western Band was active as early as 1858. The St. Anthony Brass Band played for the grand opening of the suspension bridge over the Mississippi in St. Anthony in 1863. In 1861, the Red Wing brass band played as they sent Civil War volunteers to Fort Snelling. When the soldiers returned after the war, they were greeted by the Great Western Band at the St. Paul Train Station. A group from the Vintage Band Festival, The Manitou Regimental Band, played in 2015 for a reenactment of the return of Minnesota troops from the Civil War arriving on a paddle wheeler at Fort Snelling.

For more information on how the pages of history turn as the musical faintness has been captured in the wafts of distant winds and brought into the present, visit the Vintage Band website at www.vintagebandfestival.org. The 2016 band roster and complete schedule of events is located there. Find Vintage Band Festival on Facebook at “Vintage Band Festival” and Twitter at @vintagebandfest.