Category Archives: VBF 2022

Tuba Christmas was a resounding success!

Saturday, December 3, was a magical day in Northfield. For the first time in three years Vintage Band Festival was again able to present Tuba Christmas to the Northfield community. 2022 is the 49th anniversary year of Tuba Christmas, an event that is now celebrated in over 300 venues throughout the world.

Nearly 50 musicians were present on the stage in Skinner Memorial Chapel on the campus of Carleton College. The chapel was filled with an appreciative audience and everyone had a smile on their with the joy of being in community again and hearing the sound of low-brass music filling the space.

One registered player was not in his chair, but his tuba was on the stage adorned with a Tuba Christmas headband and a U.S. Navy flag. Nick Borene, a graduate of Northfield High School and now serving in the Navy on the west coast, wanted to attend this year, but couldn’t, so his parents registered him and brought his tuba to the event. We were glad to welcome him in absentia!

Thanks to the members of the VBF board who were on hand to register the musicians, welcome the audience and sell music books and Tuba Christmas apparel. Thanks also to Carleton College for co-hosting and sponsoring the event for the fourth time. See you again in 2023!

Music around town during VBF 2022

Tom Baker’s Mardi Gras Brass

OK, so there’s the fantastic lineups in Bridge Square for four days (Thu-Sun) and Central Park for two days (Sat/Sun) and the 4 offsite location concerts on Thursday (Farmington, Cannon Falls, Montgomery, and Nerstrand), but is that all there is Vintage Band Festival?

Well, no. Windworks Quintet with play at Fifty North at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 29, and at the Northfield Public Library at 2:00 p.m. the same day.

Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band will play at the VFW Post 4393 Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 29. Tom Baker’s Mardi Gras Brass will play at the Contented Cow Pub at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 29.

Ameriikan Poijat will play at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 30 at Tanzenwald Brewing Co.

Oh, and did we mention that on Sunday, July 31, you can hear Vintage Band Festival bands in 8 Northfield churches?

OK, we’ll stop now. Good luck on getting to each and every one of these shows.

You’re welcome!

To view the complete Vintage Band Festival 2022 Program, click here.

Vintage Band Festival opens with Brass Lassie and Selby Avenue Brass Band

Thursday, July 28 at 6:30 p.m. the first notes of Vintage Band Festival 2022 will sound. Brass Lassie, a Celtic band from the Twin Cities with a brass horn component will play the opening set. Brass Lassie is a bold Minnesota-based ensemble combining Celtic music with a big band attitude, performing extraordinary takes on Scottish, Irish and Breton music. Brass Lassie features a four-piece horn section, a great rhythm section, fine fiddle, flutes, concertina and vocals in smart, joyous brass-driven arrangements. The band’s founder and leader is Northfield native Laura McKenzie and Vintage Band Festival is excited for their return to the VBF stage.

The Selby Avenue Brass Band featuring Thomasina Petrus is a relatively new voice in the Minneapolis/St.Paul music scene. The group is led by Tom Wells, tubist, arranger and composer and music educator in the Twin Cities area. Tom’s compositions and arrangements fuel a band comprised of enthusiastic and experienced musicians (including a couple of Grammy winners). While their musical roots come from the streets of New Orleans, they expand from that genre into many others. Thomasina Petrus is a Minneapolis actor and jazz vocalist, known for her signature role as jazz icon Billie Holiday. In 2019 the band did a club gig at the festival, but this is the group’s first appearance at the Bridge Square Legacy Stage. The music starts at 8:00 p.m.

VBF music in neighboring communities

In 2022, the Vintage Band Festival music won’t be heard only in Northfield. We’ll have our bands playing in four different counties! We think of these events as musical evangelism. If you love the concert tonight, come to Northfield tomorrow for three more days of this premier brass band sound.

On Thursday, July 28, four veteran VBF ensembles will give concerts in Montgomery (Le Sueur County), Nerstrand (Rice County), Cannon Falls (Goodhue County) and Farmington (Dakota County).

Independent Silver Band from Mt. Vernon, Illinois, will play at 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Park in Montgomery in the city’s “Concert in the Park” summertime series.

Dodworth Saxhorn Band

Dodworth Saxhorn Band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, will play at 7:30 p.m. at the City Park in Nerstrand.

Also at 7:30, Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band will perform at St.Ansgar’s Lutheran Church in Cannon Falls. Finally, Kentucky Baroque Trumpets will play at Farmington Lutheran Church in Farmington. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band

If you are in these areas or your schedule won’t allow you to be in Northfield on the festival weekend, visit one of these locations for a rewarding Vintage Band Festival experience.

It’s time to thank the 2022 Sponsors of the Day

We have a new giving category for Vintage Band Festival 2022: Sponsor of the Day. In 2019 we suggested that the giving level of $250-$499 be dedicated to honoring a music teacher that was a significant mentor for our donors.

This year, we’ve designated that giving level for special recognition during each of the four days of Vintage Band Festival. Thanks to all of our Vintage Band Festival 2022 Day Sponsors!

Thursday July 28 Sponsors of the Day

Premier Bank, David McKee and Lynn Naeckel, Kathleen Vang, David Hoiness, David Otterness

Friday July 29 Sponsors of the Day

Allina Health Northfield, Paul and Maribeth Beck, Norman Grier, Gerry and Carol Gengenbach, College City Beverage

Saturday July 30 Sponsors of the Day

Sarah and Ross Currier, Steve Lawler and Joy Riggs, Hogan Brothers, Arnold and Celena Witt, Rod and Deb Christensen

Sunday July 31 Sponsors of the Day

Dennis and Janet Hahn,, Judy and Paul Tarabek, Judy Broske, Peter Webb and Karen Saxe, Diane Boyum, Stan Mork

Stage Sponsors for VBF 2022 are the best!

The number of Stage Sponsors ($1,000+) for Vintage Band Festival 2022 is record-setting. We’ve never had such a fantastic response to our action call! We need to thank the following from the bottom of our hearts:

Carl and Joan Behr

By All Means Graphics (in-kind)

Capital Construction

Carleton College

City of Montgomery MN

City of Northfield (in-kind)

Northfield Rotary Club

Mary Rosenberg

Nan and Dave Shumway

Jan Stevens

Lois and Noel Stratmoen

Three LInks Care Center

Looking for Vintage Band Festival 2022 Volunteers

St. Olaf student Sarah Stevens staffing the VBF 2014 Info Tent

There are many ways to volunteer for Vintage Band Festival 2022. We need folks to help with setup in Bridge Square on July 27 and 28. We also need folks to help with take down on July 31 and August 1.

From Thursday, July 28 to Sunday, July 31 we need folks to staff the VBF Information Tent to take donations, sell merchandise and tell visitors about the festival. We also need people to manage chairs, music stands, and percussion equipment on the stages at Bridge Square and Central Park.

If you have a couple hours or a couple days, please visit our SignUp Genius website and choose your shifts. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e48afa92ea6ff2-vintage2

THANK YOU!

Three Links Care Center returns as a Vintage Band Festival Stage Sponsor in 2022

Sponsorships are vitally important to the success of Vintage Band Festival 2022. We want to welcome back Three Links Care Center as a Stage Sponsor for VBF 2022 and Hogan Brothers as a Day Sponsor. Pam Tidona, Marketing Manager at Three Links and Greg Heymans, Proprietor of Hogan Bros., are both enthusiastic supporters of Vintage Band Festival. Greg has told us that Vintage Band Festival weekend is typically his best weekend of the year!

Sponsorship benefits accrue at various levels, including frequent publicity on VBF social media, prominent recognition on banners and signs at the performance venues and in the official Vintage Band Festival program and an invitation to an exclusive donor reception just prior to the festival weekend in July.

Sponsorships are open to both businesses, non-profits and individuals. Stage Sponsorships are achieved with a $1,000 donation, Band Sponsorships occur at the $500 level, and Day Sponsors are named with a $250 donation. Donations of $3,000 or more are designated as Festival Sponsors. Festival Sponsors for VBF 2022 are the Wenger Foundation, the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and JoAnn Polley and Mark Ulmer.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a Vintage Band Festival Sponsor, please contact Jan Stevens, Fundraising Committee Chair, for more information. Jan can be reached at507-244-0500 or janofdundas@gmail.com.

Northfield Shares recognizes Vintage Band Festival volunteers

April was National Volunteer Month. Throughout the month the Northfield News and Northfield Shares, an advocate of volunteer activism, highlighted several local organizations and individuals in a series of social media posts and newspaper stories. One of the organizations they chose to feature was Vintage Band Festival. During the 16 years that VBF has been in operation, all of the work done to present live band music in dozens of Northfield locations has been performed by volunteers. From the 12-member working Board of Directors to the homestay host families to the majority of the musicians, the volunteer ethic is alive and well. Thanks to all of our volunteers! Read about all of the volunteers honored on the Northfield Shares website.

If you’d like to volunteer to help with VBF 2022, check the VBF website later this month to learn what tasks need doing and when.

Dan Bergeson, Randy Ferguson, Jan Stevens at a recent VBF Board meeting

Thanks for a successful Give-to-the-Max Day!

A great big THANK YOU to all of the 74 Vintage Band Festival donors during the month of November. We surpassed our $5,000 goal for Give to the Max Day by 30%!! That’s only 13% of our goal of $50,000 for next year’s 4-day festival, but it’s a great start. Thanks also to Doris Welke whose Early Giving donation won Vintage Band Festival a Golden Ticket worth $500. Thanks Doris!

There’s still plenty of time to make a year-end donation to keep us moving towards that 2022 goal. Please visit our website to donate online or send a check to 204 W. 7th St. #130, Northfield, MN 55057.

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend!