Tag Archives: Vintage Band Festival

Maurice “The Music Man”

One of the serendipitous highlights that some folks had during Vintage Band Festival 2024 was watching a pop-up concert given by the Alphorns. Maybe you found them at the Northfield Public Library plaza or later in front of Robin’s Egg Bakery or the Hideaway Coffeehouse and Wine Bar. Their lovely sound filled the air downtown in between the performances in Bridge Square. I can’t imagine what those horns would sound like in the mountain valleys of Switzerland!

Another unexpected moment was the appearance of Maurice “The Music Man” before the festival began on Friday. Maurice drove all the way from Indiana with a truck loaded with musical instruments for sale. He parked his vehicle behind the VBF stage and opened it up to reveal dozens of brass and wind instruments from various eras of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Throughout the day on Saturday, musicians from the VBF roster stopped to chat and sample Maurice’s fare, and some made purchases that they hadn’t expected to make before arriving in Northfield.

Maurice told me that he acquires his inventory in many ways and that some of the instruments need TLC before they’re ready for sale. He has two colleagues that help him with repairs, but even in his 80s, he’s the only one who takes the show on the road.

A few days after VBF 2024, I did a Google search on Maurice. I figured that someone somewhere must have written a story about him and I wasn’t wrong. I found a piece in Off Beat Magazine from 2018 titled “Maurice the Horn Wizard”, by Noé Cugny. Turns out that Maurice was a regular for years at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, but he got his start in Paris at the age of 17.

I have two regrets about my time with Maurice. I didn’t get a picture of him and I never caught his last name!

VBF 2024 welcomes returning friends

New Prague Area Community Band

The New Prague Area Community Band is a dynamic, non-profit organization of volunteer musicians who share a love for playing music that entertains diverse audiences. Their members range from high school students to grandparents, united in their passion for making music that’s enjoyable for all. This New Prague, Minnesota ensemble has been the opening act at Vintage Band Festival for many years and we’re delighted to welcome them back in 2024.

The New Prague Area Community Band will kick off the Saturday VBF 2024 schedule when they take the stage at 9:00 am on July 27.

New Prague Area Community Band on parade

The Alphorns

On a typical beautiful evening during spring, summer or fall, Ralph and Mary Brindle can be found playing alphorns somewhere…at home, at local parks, in the BWCA, in the mountains, even out in the snow while snowshoeing! Mary and Ralph play for outdoor weddings, Swiss Independence celebrations, and special occasions upon request. Active musicians with a variety of musical groups in the Twin Cities, Ralph and Mary began playing alphorns in 2004 and are excited to bring some alphorn serendipity to the Vintage Band Festival!

The Alphorns aren’t on a schedule when they perform at Vintage Band Festival. They wander up and down Division Street at their own pace, stopping to perform 10-minute pop-up concerts on street corners and in front of shops. Go find them, they aren’t going to come to you!

Historic Brass Society Early Brass Festival August 2-4, 2019 in Northfield

The 2019 Early Brass Festival of the Historic Brass Society (HBS) will be held in conjunction with Vintage Band Festival in Northfield, Minnesota. The Early Brass Festival will take place August 2-4, 2019, primarily at the Weitz Center for Creativity on the campus of Carleton College in Northfield.

Founded in 1988, the HBS is an international music organization concerned with the entire range of early brass music, from Ancient Antiquity and the Biblical period through the present including the development of jazz and its influence on brass instruments, literature and playing techniques. The history, music, literature and performance practice of early brass instruments such as natural trumpet, natural horn, early trombone, cornetto, serpent, keyed bugle, keyed trumpet, early valve horn, 19th century brass instruments are some of the main issues of concern to the HBS.

In addition to a membership meeting and musical performances by attendees, the HBS gathering will feature more than a dozen scholarly presentations on variety of topics. The complete schedule for the three-day event follows. To register, download the Early Brass Festival registration form.

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Friday, August 2, 2019

8:30-9:00- Meet and Greet; registration

9:00-9:30 – Glen Newton –The Mississippi River Brass Band

9:30-10:00 – Petter Carlson, Stockholm – Band Music of the Stockholm Summer Spas (ensemble)

10:00-10:30 – Jari Villanueva, Baltimore- Band Music of World War I

10:30-10:45 – Break

10:45-11:15 – Robert Apple, Memphis-The Keyed Trumpet’s use in Early 19th Century Brass and Wind Band Music

11:15-11:45 – Michael O’Connor, Florida- Thomas Coates brass band composer and leader (ensemble)

11:45-12:15 – Don Johnson Jr – Chamber Works and Pedagogy for Keyed Trumpet in the Early Classical Period (ensemble)

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Saturday, August 3, 2019

8:00-8:30 – Meet and Greet (coffee)

8:30-9:00 – HBS meeting

9:00-9:30 – William Hall- The 1^st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment Band, 1861-1862 (ensemble)

9:30-10:00 – Don Larry – Arizona Territorial Brass Band History

10:00-10:15 break

10:15- 10:45 – Géry Dumoulin, Brussels – The arguèdène tradition in Wallonia (Belgium): an entertainment practice at the crossroads of brass band, dance, and folk music traditions (ensemble)

10:45-11:15 – William Reynolds, Illinois-Circus Band Memories

11:15-11:45 – Friedmann Immer, Germany- New Thoughts on the Keyed Trumpet

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Sunday, August 4, 2019

8:30-9:00 – Meet and Greet (coffee)

9:00- 9:30 – Joy Riggs, Northfield- An Iowa Regimental Band’s 1906 Tour of the South

9:30 -10:00 – Bruce Gleason – European Battlefield Trumpets, 16^th-19^th Centuries

10:00-10:15 break

10:15-10:45 – Scott Muntefering – Women’s Bands in Iowa: the Keota Ladies’ Band (1908-1918) and the Knoxville Girls’ Band (1915-1919)

10:45-11:15 – Nolan Hauta , Iowa – New Horizon Bands

11:15 Closing

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 8^th 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 Grant Award from Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council

May 22, 2017

For Immediate Release

Vintage Band Festival Announces Grant Award from Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council

Northfield, Minnesota—Vintage Band Festival is pleased to announce that it has received a $3,000 grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) in support of one of the performing bands at this summer’s one-day festival on July 29. The award also covers expenses for sound production at the event. SEMAC has been a strong supporter and advocate for Vintage Band Festival since the festival was launched in 2006 and this recent grant continues that tradition.

Vintage Band Festival was founded in 2006 by Dr. Paul Niemisto, at the time a faculty member of the St. Olaf College Music Department. The inspiration for staging a series of brass and wind band concerts simultaneously at multiple outdoor venues in Northfield, Minnesota came from observing similar events while visiting small towns in Germany and Austria. The local community responded enthusiastically to the idea and Vintage Band Festival is now a thriving and beloved ongoing enterprise in Northfield. Four-day festivals have been held in 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2016. Recently, a variation on the concept was created and now one-day summer events are staged during the intervals between the grand four-day events. The next one-day Vintage Band Festival will be held July 29, 2017.

Spaghetti Dinner to Benefit Vintage Band Festival

April 1, 2017

For Immediate Release

Northfield, Minnesota—The Northfield Eagles Club will be hosting a benefit spaghetti dinner as a fundraiser for Vintage Band Festival 2017. The event will take place, Saturday, April 22, 2017 from 5:00pm – 7:30 pm at the Fraternal Order of the Eagles Club, 304 Water Street South, Northfield. Dinner will consist of spaghetti with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese, salad and sliced bread. Cash bar will be available and live music will be presented throughout the evening, beginning at 5:30.

Tickets for the Vintage Band Festival spaghetti benefit dinner are available in advance at Coldwell Banker South Metro Office, 419 Division Street South, Northfield. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets may also be purchased at the door the night of the event. All proceeds from the event will benefit Vintage Band Festival.

Vintage Band Festival 2017 will take place in Northfield July 29, 2017. Music will run from 10am-10pm in Bridge Square. Details of the 2017 festival can be found at www.vintagebandfestival.org.

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 4^th, and best yet, Vintage Band Festival 2016.

What the Vintage Band Festival Needs from Our Friends

Board members with specific skills in finance, administration, and fundraising. If you would like to nominate someone or volunteer, please let us know.
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.
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.
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.

“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.