Tag Archives: Copper Street Brass

#VBF2021 will be non-stop entertainment

Bavarian Musikmeisters

The schedule is set for Vintage Band Festival 2021(#VBF2021) on July 31, 2021. The day begins at 9:30 am in Bridge Square with a fun visit from the Above Average Tubas. Four tubas in harmony will provide a melodious and mellow start to the 12-hour brass band extravaganza. The day will end with the glorious sounds of the Roseville Big Band. Regional music fans will have heard them play at the semi-annual Hangar Dance hosted by the Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing. The audience is encouraged to bring dancing shoes to join the fun!

Here is the complete schedule for the day:

  • 9:30–Above Average Tuba Quartet

  • 10:30–Jack Brass Band

  • 11:30–Sheldon Theatre Brass Band

  • 12:30–Twin Cities Trumpet Ensemble

  • 1:30–Banda La Verdadera

  • 2:30–Lake Wobegon© Brass Band

  • 3:30–Brio Brass

  • 4:30–Bavarian Musikmeisters

  • 5:30–Southside Aces

  • 6:45–Copper Street (60 minutes)

  • 8:15–Roseville Big Band (90 minutes)

The Wenger Showmobile Stage will be set up on Bridge Square in Downtown Northfield. Riverwalk Market Fair (The art of a summer Saturday) will be sharing the Square with us from 9 am-2 pm with 30+ vendors offering fresh produce. ceramics, paintings and photography, baked goods, and lots of activities for kids. Vintage Band Festival provides the soundtrack for the day!

Volunteers are needed to staff the VBF Information Tent in 2-hour shifts during the day. If you’re interested/available, please send a message to vintagebandfestival@gmail.com with the hours that you could work. We also need volunteers to assist with set-up (7 am-9 am) and take-down duties (9:30pm-11 pm).

Check our website www.vintagebandfestival.org often for updates and be sure to follow Vintage Band Festival on Facebook as well. See you in July!

Vintage Band Festival is Back!

Have you heard the news??

Vintage Band Festival 2021 will take place July 31, 2021. Exactly 425 days will have elapsed since VBF’s last public event: the Swing into Leap Year Dance on February 29, 2020. It’s been a long time coming. With the lifting of restrictions by the Governor’s office a couple of weeks ago, it looks like our outdoor event in Bridge Square can be held safely.

We’re going to have a great lineup for 12 hours of brass band enjoyment. The evening schedule is set. At 5:30 on the Wenger Showmobile Stage we’ll have Southside Aces, a fantastic Twin Cities jazz ensemble led by Tony Baluff on clarinet. Copper Street Brass will take the stage at 6:45 and the evening will finish with the sounds of the Roseville Big Band. Copper Street Brass has appeared at every Vintage Band Festival since 2006, but the Roseville Big Band will be making its debut with us. Bring your dancing shoes!

We’ll announce the rest of the lineup just as soon as we get confirmations from everyone. Check back often at the VBF website for  the rest of the day’s schedule and other festival details.

Riverwalk Market Fair, an open-air bazaar featuring fresh produce vendors and artisans of all sorts, will again be sharing Bridge Square with Vintage Band Festival. This collaboration has been taking place for a number of years now and we love the synergy that results from the co-mingling of our audiences!

Thanks to our spring donors who stepped up during Spring Forward MN in May. We have a goal to raise $5,000 before the July festival and we’re 30% there following the May fund drive. If you can help us with a gift in any amount, please visit www.vintagebandfestival.org and click on the green “Donate” button.

This past year has been difficult for everyone and we’re looking forward to seeing all of you again in person. If you haven’t gotten a COVID-19 vaccination yet, please do so at your earliest opportunity. The best way to reduce the risk of virus transmission for everyone is for people to be fully vaccinated.

Vintage Band Festival Spring Fund Drive

It’s time for our annual spring fund drive here at Vintage Band Festival. The generous and loyal financial support from businesses, foundations and individuals like you continues to make it possible for us to present such amazing musicians and ensembles and not charge admission. We are fortunate to have the Wenger Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board as our principal funders, but their support accounts for just 40% of our $100,000 budget for 2019. The rest will need to come from other grants, and businesses and individuals such as you.

We are incredibly excited for Vintage Band Festival 2019. The roster we have assembled consists of three international groups, seven domestic ensembles from outside Minnesota and an amazing array of Minnesota bands from around the state. This year there will be 11 bands that have never performed at Vintage Band Festival before, two of which are from Europe.

Thursday evening, August 1, the headliners will be Mariachi Mi Tierra and McNasty Brass Band. Friday night we welcome back Copper Street Brass and then we’ll have a victory dance with Bend in the River Big Band. Saturday night will feature Southside Aces and Hornucopia: A Tribute to Horn Bands in the Rock Era.

There will be a number of living history bands with us this year, some that are familiar and several that are new. We will have the 1st Brigade Band from Watertown, Wisconsin, Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band, and the Independent Silver Band from Mount Vernon, Illinois. New to Vintage Band Festival in 2019 will be the 1st Nebraska Volunteers Brass Band, Arizona’s Territorial Brass and the Imperial Cornet Band from Baltimore, Maryland.

Check the VBF website often for the complete schedule and breaking news.

The goal for our 2019 spring fund drive is $20,000. Currently, we have raised $9,650. If you have recently made a gift to Vintage Band Festival, our sincere thanks! If it’s been awhile, won’t you please consider a gift at this time? A successful spring fund drive outcome is essential to the success of our summer festival. A gift in any amount is always welcome, but gifts of $100 or more are critically important right now. Donors are featured prominently in the festival program and onsite at the Bridge Square Main Stage. In addition, we will be hosting an exclusive donor reception in July, just before the festival begins.

If you are donating by check, send your gift to:
Vintage Band Festival
204 7th St W #130
Northfield, MN 55057

If you want to make your gift with a credit card, go to www.vintagebandfestival.org and click on the big green “Donate” button.

Vintage Band Festival Announces Evening Performers for August 1-3, 2019

The lineup is set for the Thursday-Saturday evening shows on the Bridge Square main stage at Vintage Band Festival 2019. New to the VBF stage this year will be Bend in the River Big Band, a 19-piece swing band playing for the Friday night Victory Dance; and Hornucopia: A Tribute to Horns in the Rock Era. The other six bands have performed at Vintage Band Festival in previous years and are coming back due to audience accolades.

Thursday, August 1
6:00pm—Jack Brass Band
7:00pm– Mariachi Mi Tierra
8:30pm—McNasty Brass Band

Friday, August 2
6:30pm—Copper Street Brass
8:30pm—Bend in the River Big Band

Saturday, August 3
6:00pm—Metro Brass
7:00pm—Southside Aces
8:30pm—Hornucopia

THURSDAY

Jack Brass Band
The Jack Brass Band formed in 1999 in the Twin Cities metro. Based on the traditions of New Orleans brass bands, they are ambassadors of the Crescent City’s rich musical history. The 8-piece band plays “Feel-Good Music” for audiences of any age, for any occasion.
JBB has the ability and repertoire to play everything from old New Orleans jazz from Louis Armstrong’s era, to the modern street Mardi-Gras anthems with the instrumentation, feel, and energy they have mastered through countless gigs, parades, festival appearances, and trips to New Orleans to listen, learn, and play alongside the masters.

Jack Brass Band

Mariachi Mi Tierra
Mariachi Mi Tierra is the oldest Mariachi ensemble in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area. Rosalio Castro (trumpet), who formed the group in 2003, has played various Mexican styles of music since he was in his teens. Eduardo Castro (also trumpet) is the group’s director.
Together, the Castros have brought together a group that produces the full sound of authentic mariachi in Minnesota. The group’s repertoire includes a number of regional and current favorites. In addition to events in the local Mexican community, Mariachi Mi Tierra plays at schools, colleges, businesses, casinos, and festivals. Mariachi Mi Tierra performed previously at the Vintage Band Festival in 2014, 2015 and 2018.

Mariachi Mi Tierra

McNasty Brass Band
McNasty is a collection of Minneapolis/Saint Paul-based horn players and percussionists that fuse the Minneapolis sound with the spirit of New Orleans. The outcome of this fusion is hard-hitting dance music and high-energy live shows.
Each player works tirelessly outside McNasty Brass Band as a side man, some with national and international touring acts. That’s what makes McNasty special–these youthful but experienced side men come together and showcase their compositions, solos, group vocals, and stage presence as front men. “McNasty Brass Band is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t make fun of the kid who is super into trumpet in 5th grade” (twincitiesmedia.net). “King Size Life,” their first studio album, encapsulates their live energy with exciting compositions, rowdy gang vocals, and rip-roaring solos. The only thing missing is their dance moves!

McNasty Brass Band

FRIDAY

Copper Street Brass
The members of Copper Street Brass have style, substance and a flair for innovation, which has allowed them to transcend the brass quintet box and evolve into something fresh. Copper Street Brass started in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2007 and settled down in Minneapolis in 2008. The group’s new tour program, “The Evolution of the Brass Quintet,” features music from Mozart to Dave Brubeck to Adele. Its blend of musical styles and fusion of electronic effects and brass has wowed audiences in communities across the country. Last season the quintet performed for 4,300 students in 25 school residencies throughout Minnesota.

Copper Street Brass

Bend in the River Big Band
Street dances have been a part of Vintage Band Festival for many years. Providing the soundtrack for the 2019 Victory Dance is the Bend in the River Big Band from the Mankato area. The band formed in 1987 from alumni of Gustavus Adolphus College under the direction of Dr. Mark Lammers. This 19-piece ensemble is currently led by Bob Hallquist, who also plays trumpet and percussion. The band’s vocalist is Linnea Marrin. Everyone should bring their dancin’ shoes and be ready to swing!

Bend in the River Big Band

SATURDAY

Metro Brass
Metro Brass is a group of 11 amateur musicians from the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area that has only played together for five years. They all play in other ensembles, but come together for the “Metro Brass Sound.” Metro Brass is led by Keith Thompson (trumpet).

Metro Brass

Southside Aces
Southside Aces perform traditional New Orleans jazz. The band began as the brainchild of clarinetist Tony Balluff and sousaphone player Erik Jacobson. The Aces have self-produced and released five albums: All Aboard!! , Bucktown Bounce, A Big Fine Thing, their Christmas album, Santaphone, and their latest, Second Thursday. Their music garnered the declaration, “A true authentic New Orleans dance-hall style band” from the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Quarterly.
In New Orleans, the jazz tradition thrives off a wide array of tunes and styles. With such a wealth of good music from which to draw, the group is dedicated to highlighting the songs and not the players. They possess a diverse repertoire, with a roll call that includes the names of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke. Many songs from lesser-known constellations in the jazz firmament such as AJ Piron and Tiny Parham found their way in there, plus Crescent City classics like “Bourbon Street Parade,” “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” and “St. James Infirmary.”
The Southside Aces have performed at the Vieux Carré and Dakota jazz clubs, Peavey Plaza, Mears Park, Twin Cities Jazz Fest, Hopkins Jazz Festival, and the Doc Evans Jazz Festival. Found at weddings, birthdays, banquets and memorials, the Aces utilize the traditional cannon for its sweetness, its spice, its joy, its sorrow; whatever the mood should call for.

Southside Aces

Hornucopia
In 1969, the music of Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago Transit Authority (among many others) could be heard on every street corner in America. In acknowledging the tremendous contributions of these bands and their music, Vintage Band Festival presents Hornucopia, an 11-member band from the Twin Cities metro performing horn tune tributes of the rock era (1960s to the present). Their music ranges from rock to ska, swing to pop, soul to funk, and Latin to blues. Hornucopia is led by front man and vocalist Kevin Thomas.

VBF 2018 Band Profiles: Copper Street Brass; Minnesota State Band; New Prague Community Band

Copper Street Brass

Copper Street Brass

Copper Street Brass (CSB) is the premier brass chamber ensemble in Minnesota and one of only a handful of self-sustaining brass groups in the country. The ensemble was founded in 2008 as a professionally trained classical chamber music ensemble (which means they perform without a conductor) with two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba. CSB presents exclusively its own music, which is an original blend of musical styles from Mozart to Madonna, in over 35 concerts and 80 outreach services each season.

The six core musicians of CSB, Allison Hall, Josh Cameron, Tim Bradley, Alex Wolff, Nick Adragna, and Reid Kennedy have a combined 11 professional music and education degrees and thousands of performances under their belts. These artists have performed with world-renowned classical ensembles like the Minnesota Orchestra, SPCO, MN Opera and Malaysian Philharmonic, and also have the versatility to perform with jazz/blues groups such as Davina and the Vagabonds and Nooky Jones. They have recorded for Prince, Grammy-winner Big Walter Smith, and many other groups.

CSB has been heard by thousands of people outside of the Twin Cities area on local concert series performances, summer music festivals, performances with school bands, and collaborations with other local arts groups. Recent performance activities include concert tours throughout Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, and New Mexico. CSB has captured its exclusive arrangements on five CDs.

Copper Street Brass will take the stage at VBF 2018 at 6:30pm in Bridge Square on July 28.

 

Minnesota State Band

Minnesota State Band

The Minnesota State Band, the official band of the State of Min­nesota and the only remaining state band in the United States, formed in 1898. Its history is closely tied to state military traditions, as well as a tradition of touring; since 1986 it has taken six international concert tours. While international travel is important, the band’s primary mission is to provide high-quality music to Minnesota residents. It operates as a non-profit organization with an all-volunteer membership. It will present a 120th anniversary concert this fall. The Minnesota State Band is conducted by Chuck Boody.

Minnesota State Band will play at 2:00pm on July 28 at VBF 2018 in Northfield.

 

New Prague Community Band

New Prague Community Band

The New Prague Area Community Band consists of community members ranging from teenagers to retirees. It plays a diverse selection of band repertoire, striving to entertain all sorts of audiences. Band members are an energetic group who believe that music is fun; they try to show that in their attitudes and in the songs they play at local events and area celebrations throughout the year. The conductor of the New Prague Area Community Band is Rush Wagner.

New Prague Community Band will perform at 9:00am on July 28 in Northfield at VBF 2018.

Vintage Band Festival Announces 2018 Bands

May 29, 2018

Vintage Band Festival today announced the band roster for the Saturday, July 28, 2018 one-day concert schedule. The bands will play on the Wenger Showmobile stage in Bridge Square in downtown Northfield from 9am-10:30pm.

There will be several bands playing at Vintage Band Festival for the first time. Southside Aces will take the stage at 12 noon. This sextet from the metro Twin Cities is an all-star lineup that plays traditional New Orleans jazz. Their music garnered the declaration, “A true authentic New Orleans dance-hall style band” from the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Quarterly. They play for weddings, banquets, dance competitions, etc. as well as the best clubs in the Midwest.  They recently released their 5th CD “Second Thursday.”

Metro Brass is a group of 11 amateur musicians from the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area that has only been playing together for five years. They all play in other ensembles, but come together for the “Metro Brass Sound”.

Twin Cities Brass Band is a European-style brass band that calls Bloomington, Minnesota home.

In addition to the newcomers, Vintage Band Festival is presenting the following favorite groups that have played in Bridge Square several times: New Prague Community Band, Sheldon Theater Brass Band (Red Wing), Ameriikan Poijat (Boys of America), Brio Brass and the Minnesota State Band. Minnesota is the only state in the country with a publicly funded band!

Headliners for Vintage Band Festival 2018 are Copper Street Brass and Buddy Koopmans Orchestra. Copper Street Brass takes the stage at 6:30 and Buddy Koopmans begins their set at 8:30. Buddy Koopmans Orchestra is a swing-style big band and the audience will be invited to get on its feet and dance!

Buddy Koopmans Orchestra

Copper Street Brass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information and the complete festival schedule, visit 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.

Copper Street Brass in Northfield December 8

There’s no better time for brass than the holidays! Now a family tradition for many audiences, Copper Street Brass’ popular holiday concert celebrates the stories and sounds of the season. You’ll hear everything from traditional carols and classical music to funk and rock holiday tunes – crafted with Copper Street’s signature original arrangements and performed with passion, humor, and virtuosity.

You’ll also hear music from favorite childhood movies and TV specials like The Nutcracker, The Snowman, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and The Grinch.

One night only, Friday December 8th at 7:30 PM – St. John’s Lutheran Church. Tickets $20-$25 adults, $10 students. Tickets available at www.copperstreetbrass.org or call (763) 307-3452. VBF fans use code “vbf” for $5 off your advance tickets!

 

 

Final Reminder: Tuba Christmas will take place Saturday, December 2!

 

Kick off the holiday season on Saturday, December 2, by going to Tuba Christmas at Skinner Memorial Chapel on the campus of Carleton College at 3pm. Picture a stage filled with tubas, sousaphones, euphoniums and baritones all playing Christmas carols for your enjoyment. Be prepared to sing along as instructed by host, Paul Niemisto, and guest conductor, Ron Rodman, and be sure to bring your family and friends to this community celebration. If you know musicians that play these instruments, invite them to participate. Musicians of all ages are welcome. Registration begins at noon, there is a rehearsal at 1pm and the performance is at 3pm.

Visit vintagebandfestival.org for more details.

Vintage Band Festival Announces Band Roster for 2017 Festival

For Immediate Release

May 26, 2017

Vintage Band Festival Announces Band Roster for 2017 Festival

The band roster for the upcoming July 29 festival is now complete. Crowd favorites among the bands returning to Vintage Band Festival in 2017 include Bavarian Musikmeisters, Sheldon Theater Brass Band, Twin Cities Trumpet Ensemble, Brio Brass, and Copper Street Brass. New this year will be the Fife and Drum Corps from Historic Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Brass Lassie, and the McNasty Brass Band.

Historic Fort Snelling Fifes and Drums–The Historic Fort Snelling Fifes and Drums is a volunteer musical ensemble dedicated to representing the fort’s long history through music. The musical repertoire spans from the Revolutionary War through World War II, the years when Fort Snelling was an active post of the United States Army.

Brass Lassie—Brass Lassie performs extraordinary arrangements of Scottish, Irish and French music, mainly traditional, featuring a four-piece horn section, a terrific rhythm section, plus fiddles, flutes, pipes, vocals and some wonderful step dancing.

McNasty Brass Band— McNasty Brass Band is a collection of Minneapolis/Saint Paul based horn players and percussionists that fuse the Minneapolis sound with the spirit of New Orleans. The outcome of this fusion is hard-hitting dance music and high-energy live shows.

Copper Street Brass—The five members of Copper Street Brass have style, substance and a flair for innovation, which has allowed them to transcend the brass quintet box and evolve into something fresh. Copper Street Brass started in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2007 and settled down in Minneapolis in 2008. The group’s new tour program, “The Evolution of the Brass Quintet,” features music from Mozart to Dave Brubeck to Adele. Its blend of musical styles and fusion of electronic effects and brass has wowed audiences in communities across the country. Last season the quintet performed for 4,300 students in 25 schools.

Brio Brass—Brio Brass has delighted and entertained audiences throughout Minnesota’s Twin Cities
Metro area since 1999. Composed of more than 50 adult musicians, the group performs its own unique arrangements written specifically for its members. The ensemble’s large repertoire features a broad spectrum of musical styles. Audiences are entertained with fluid ballads, pop of all eras, show tunes, funky rock and lots of jazz. Expect lots of humming, toe tapping and even dancing in the aisles!

Twin Cities Trumpet Ensemble–Understanding that the trumpet holds a special place in the psyche of society, the Twin Cities Trumpet Ensemble seeks to enliven, entertain, and enrich the community through the highest level of professional performance prowess and the presentation of music of
quality and stylistic and temperamental diversity. It exemplifies the transformative power of music through the performance of music written or arranged for three or more trumpets. The ensemble has performed numerous concerts in the tri-state area, including performances at Lake Como Pavilion and several churches.

Sheldon Theatre Brass Band–The Sheldon Theatre Brass Band was founded in 1989 as the resident performing ensemble at the newly restored turn-of- the-century T. B. Sheldon Theatre in Red Wing. The band is made up of cornets, trombones, tenor horns, euphoniums, tubas and percussion. In addition to its regular performances at the Sheldon Theatre, the band performs at a variety of venues throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin, and it has performed at many brass band festivals throughout the United States including NABBA Great American Brass Band Festival.

Bavarian Musikmeisters–Members of the Bavarian Musikmeisters hail from the Twin Cities and model themselves after traditional German village bands, lederhosen and all. The band’s 35 musicians perform authentic musical arrangements on a variety of brass and woodwind instruments: flute, clarinet, trumpet, flugelhorn, tenor horn, baritone, trombone, tuba and percussion. They perform for numerous events in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and have performed at Germanic festivals in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota, as well as at the German-American Mardi Gras Association annual meeting in Las Vegas.

The Whistlin’ Dixies–This Twin Cities-based group prides itself on its versatility. The Whistlin’ Dixies has a core group of four fun and funky musicians and adds up to ten others to play a variety of genres, ranging from Motown classics to vintage jazz and swing to rock n’ roll. The band often performs for weddings, parties and corporate events.

New Prague Community Band–The New Prague Area Community Band consists of community members ranging from teenagers to retirees. It plays a diverse selection of band repertoire, striving to entertain all sorts of audiences. Band  members are an energetic group who believe that music is fun; they try to show that in their attitudes and in the songs they play at local events and area celebrations throughout the year.

The venue for the series of outdoor concerts on July 29 will be Bridge Square in Downtown Northfield, Minnesota along the banks of the wild and scenic Cannon River. The show will run from 10am-10pm and feature a variety of Minnesota music ensembles playing 45 or 90 minute sets. Vintage Band Festival will run concurrently with Riverwalk Market Fair, an open-air arts and food market, and will also have a variety of food concessions. Festival goers should bring chairs or blankets and plan to spend the day.

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.