The Vintage Band Festival was recently mentioned in the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Read the article here.
Category Archives: VBF News
“Recalling History Through Its Sights and Sounds” via the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota
Read a recent blog post about the Vintage Band Festival via the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota here.
“Northfield’s Vintage Band Festival” via Minnesota Journeys
The Vintage Band Festival was recently mentioned in Minnesota Monthly as one of the top music events to attend this coming month, Aug. 1-4, under their calendar section titled, “The Agenda – What you need to do, see, and hear this month.” You can also read a full article on the upcoming festival here, compliments of writer Joel Schettler, of Minnesota Monthly’s Minnesota Journeys.
Chicago Tribune’s Midwest Travel Calendar Section includes VBF
The Vintage Band Festival, located in Minnesota, is on Chicago Tribune’s events calendar for Midwest travel suggestions. Read more here.
Vintage Band Festival 2013 at a Glance
THE VINTAGE BAND FESTIVAL is pleased to announce its third Vintage Band Festival will take place in Northfield, Minnesota on August 1-4, 2013. This international music festival is a four-day celebration featuring 30 bands from across the United States and abroad with 100 concerts showcasing a variety of genres, heritage influences and period-style performances.
• Ensembles participating in the Vintage Band Festival 2013 include some exciting international bands, nationally recognized vintage bands, Midwestern vintage ensembles and a number of Minnesota-based brass bands and community bands. For a complete list of the roster and links to individual band websites, visit vintagebandfestival.org.
• Auxiliary events surrounding the festival are: vintage baseball, ballroom-style dance, vaudeville entertainment, Battle of the Bands, Massed Civil War Bands Concert, Lunch Listen & Learn concerts, historical musical instrument exhibit, Sunday music in area churches, and the Early Brass Festival gathering of the Historic Brass Society (New York). All performances are free and open to the public, although financial donations are encouraged. Dress in vintage attire is usual, but not required.
• Events begin at noon each day. There are performances on the hour and every half hour at various venues throughout the city well into the evening. In observation of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, there will be a Battle of the Bands on the banks of the Cannon River.
• The Vintage Band Festival will also be collaborating with the Saturday morning Riverwalk Market Fair. Surrounding communities will also collaborate through satellite VBF performances. Events are scheduled in Dundas, Faribault, Owatonna, Cannon Falls, New Prague, Red Wing, Chatfield, New Ulm, Minneapolis and more.
International Bands
• Oktetten Ehstedts Eftr (Stockholm Home Guard Band) – Sweden
• Medevi Brunnsorkester (Brass Sextet) – Sweden
• Eine Kleine DorfMusik (Bohemian Band) – Austria
• Original Drachenfelser Musikanten – Germany
American Bands
• Kentucky Baroque Trumpets – Kentucky
• Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (New Orleans & Delta Style) – Illinois
• Independent Silver Band (19th Century) – Illinois
• Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band (19th Century) – Maryland
• Dodworth Saxhorn Band (Civil War Era) – Michigan
• Kenny Carr and the Tiger Shout Band – North Carolina
• Lex-Ham Community Band – Minnesota
• Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Cowboy Band (Civil War) – Texas
• 26th North Carolina Regimental Band (Civil War) – Washington DC
• 1st Brigade Band (Civil War) – Wisconsin
• Century Brass Band (Civil War) – Minnesota
• Copper Street Brass Quintet – Minnesota
• North Star Vaudeville Orchestra – Minnesota
• Schell’s Hobo Band – Schnikelfritz – Minnesota
• Sheldon Theatre Brass Band (British Style) – Minnesota
• Dolce Woodwind Quintet – Minnesota
• Ameriikan Poijat (Finnish Brass Band) – Minnesota
• New Prague Area Community Band – Minnesota
• New Ulm Original German Band – Minnesota
• Brass Messengers (Balkan Band) – Minnesota
• Lake Wobegon© Brass Band (British Style) – Minnesota
• Jack Brass Band (New Orleans Style) – Minnesota
• Klezmerica (Klezmer Band) – Minnesota
• Mariachi mi Tierra Band – Minnesota
• Matterhorn Alphorns – Minnesota
• Minnesota State Band – Minnesota
• The Bavarian Musikmeisters – Minnesota
• WindWorks Quintet – Minnesota
• Swing and a Miss – Minnesota
The Vintage Band Festival 2013 is a non-partisan, non-profit community organization.
For the complete schedule and bios, visit www. vintagebandfestival.org.
Pre-Festival/Media Day
Media are welcome to a series of international band performances taking place on July 31, as part of the VBF’s pre-festival activities.
Please see the following:
Lunch, Listen & Learn #1: Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band *
12:00 pm – 12:50 pm Contented Cow Pub, Northfield MN
*Call 651-470-0028 to reserve a complimentary meal ticket.
Medevi Brunnsorkester (Sweden)
3:00 pm – 3:50 pm Archer House Riverfront Gazebo, Northfield MN
Medevi Brunnsorkester (Sweden)
7:00 pm – 7:50 pm Grace Lutheran Church, Nerstrand MN
Eine Kleine Dorfmusik Kapelle (Austria)
8:00 pm – 8:50 pm Contented Cow Pub, Northfield MN
Original Drachenfesler Musikanten (Germany)
8:00 pm – 8:50 pm J. Grundy’s Rueb’n’Stein, Northfield MN
Media are also welcome to attend a reception at the Northfield Historical Society celebrating donors, foreign guests, and volunteers. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served starting at 5:30 p.m.
Photography and interviews with international vintage band performers and Artistic Director Dr. Paul Niemisto are available on this date and throughout the festival.
Further questions, call 651-470-0028. Press information is here.
PRESS RELEASE: TAKE IN THE CULTURAL SCENE – VINTAGE BAND FESTIVAL 2013!
(Northfield, MN May 2013) – Cultural influences from all over the world contributed to the rich history of American brass bands. Attendees of this summer’s Vintage Band Festival will hear this richness expressed through the performances of a number of ethnic bands, including several from Minnesota.
Here’s a look at some of those bands participating in the Aug. 1-4 festival:
The Brass Messengers started as a street band playing the music of the Caribbean and Balkans. http://www.brassmessengers.com/ This Minneapolis-based band is well known for its lively performances and its involvement in the Heart of the Beast May Day Parade. “Our music of choice is anything that fits in the twisted brass tubing, from originals to covers from around the globe, as long as it makes a joyful noise.”
The entertainment band tradition of klezmer, secular Jewish music that originated in Eastern Europe, will be represented at the Vintage Band Festival by the Klezmerica band of the Twin Cities. Also known as the Frozen Chosen, Klezmerica has played all over the United States, in Canada, and Israel. (http://frozenchozen.com/)
Traditional Mexican music styles of mariachi and banda also have influenced the American brass band sound. Minneapolis-based Mariachi mi Tierra (http://www.mitierramnonline.com/) has performed widely around the country, and at events closer to home, like Minnesota Twins baseball games. Mariachi music has incredible diversity, from rapid tempo “sones” (quick songs), to “romånticas” to dance forms such as the “cumbia”, “bolero”, “polka”, and “vals” (waltz). They include the typical instruments: trumpets, fiddles, and guitars.
Among the other Minnesota bands reflecting ethnic traditions are the Original New Ulm German Band and the Bavarian Musikmeisters (http://www.musikmeisters.com/), both well known in their own communities and around the region. For the Bavarian Musikmeisters, the music is about “sharing the beauty, enjoyment, and history of traditional Germanic band music and culture with people of all ages.”
The Minnesota-based Finnish band Ameriikan Poijat (Boys of America) recently returned from a concert and festival tour of Finland, performing at the Lieksa International Brass Week and on the main esplanade in Helsinki and many other locations. The seven brass players are from all corners of Minnesota. (www.ameriikanpoijat.org)
Visit our website for more information and a four-day schedule with over 100 performances at http://vintagebandfestival.org/festival/schedule/. Stay tuned for more news from the Vintage Band Festival as exciting national and international bands (soon to be announced) will bring their heritage music to this year’s festival, as well! Our news blog can be found at http://vintagebandfestival.org/news/.
The Vintage Band Festival is a four-day celebration featuring bands from across the US and abroad. Over 100 concerts fill the streets of historic Northfield and satellite concerts sites throughout southern Minnesota on August 1-4. The Festival offers a variety of genres, ethnic influences, and period-style performances. Visit http://vintagebandfestival.org/ for more information.
Find us on Facebook at “Vintage Band Festival” and Twitter at @vintagebandfest.
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 & cultural heritage fund.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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“Vintage Band Festival Delivers a Blast From the Past” via Leisure Group Travel
“Travel through time — compliments of the Vintage Band Festival — as it takes you on a whirlwind musical extravaganza August 1-4 in southern Minnesota. This notable event will be the highlight of the summer – welcoming 30 US and international bands as they perform an astonishing 100 concerts over four days! …” Read more here.
This advertorial was written for Leisure Group Travel.com by Amy Acheson.
“Minnesota Festival to Feature Vintage Bands” via Leisure Group Travel
Note: This article can be found on Leisure Group Travel‘s website. Read more Vintage Band Festival coverage here and here.
The Vintage Band Festival, set for Aug. 1-4 in Northfield, Minn., once again will present performances from a wide variety of brass bands. A rich history is found in British-style brass bands. Two Minnesota-based bands in this tradition will appear at the Vintage Band Festival in August — the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band and Sheldon Theatre Brass Band.
Sheldon Theatre Brass Band
This band style began during Britain’s industrial era, when newly invented brass valves were being mass-produced. The resulting cultural change took “playing in a band” to a new level, inspiring challenging contests that enlivened the working communities, heightening spirits and creating a category of band music all its own. Today the North American Brass Band Association embodies this tradition passed down through the centuries, while many heritages continue to embrace British-style music throughout the world.
Read more here.
Catch Vintage Band Fever
Note: This post is available courtesy of Joy Riggs, freelance writer and Vintage Band Festival executive committee member.
The countdown to Vintage Band Festival 2013 is at 77 days – it’s less than three months away! If you enjoy listening to world-class music, attending family-friendly summer festivals, and exploring cool small towns, make plans now to travel to Northfield, Minn., this summer – the town of Colleges, Cows and Cornets!
Thirty bands are scheduled to present 100 concerts during the four days of the international festival, showcasing a variety of genres, heritage influences and period-style performances. Some bands are making a return appearance, and others are new to the festival. Detailed information about the bands, links to their websites, samples of their music, and a searchable performance schedule are available on the festival website, vintagebandfestival.org.
New bands this year include Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Cowboy Band, from Texas (also known as the Frontier Brigade Band); the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, a New Orleans-style band composed of eight brothers from Chicago; and two bands from Sweden, Ehnstedt’s Octet and Medevi Brunnsorkester.
Read more here.