Press Release - March Madness 2011

MARCH MADNESS 2011

 THE GREAT AMERICAN BRASS BAND FESTIVAL

Calling All Brass and Wind Players!!

Bring Your Horn and Join the Lexington Brass Band

Sunday, June 12th; 3:00 pm; Centre College, Danville, KY

Danville, Ky--At this year’s Great American Brass Band Festival, join in and play with the internationally acclaimed Lexington Brass Band in the grand finale to a spectacular concert that celebrates the march. The concert begins at 3:00 pm, Sunday, June 12^th, on the Main Stage of the Great American Brass Band Festival.  Bring your brass or woodwind instrument and stand in with the band on four excellent and popular marches by John Philip Sousa.  Music will be supplied, and some stands, though those with music lyres are encouraged to bring them!  Don’t miss this great chance to be a performer at the GABBF 2011.  For further detailed information, contact Dr. Ronald W. Holz, director of The Lexington Brass Band, at 859-858-3877 or 859-858-3511 Ext. 2246; email: ronald.holz@asbury.edu  For complete details on the full weekend, go to www.gabbf.org or call 859-319-8426

Bands excel in playing marches. Marches get toes tapping and heads nodding.  Our audiences at the GABBF for over 20 years have continually requested that bands offer this favorite type of program.  This 50-minute concert will contain a wide array of marches, this year focusing on the influence of Sousa on all march composers that followed him, including Kentucky’s own James Curnow, whose brilliant march Tribute will be included in the program.

This is a concert marked by energy, excitement, and scintillating brass.  Don’t miss it and if you play a wind or brass instrument, join the band!

See also www.lexingtonbrassband.com for more information on the band, its members, and its leadership. 

For more information on the conference, contact Ron Holz ronald.holz@asbury.edu

Press Release - Civil War Battle of the Bands ready to rock GABBF

Civil War Battle of the Bands ready to rock GABBF

Danville, KY – There is a battle brewing for the 2011 Great American Brass Band Festival—and it is going to be a ton of fun!

From 4-4:50 p.m. on Sunday, June 12 during the festival, the GABBF will have a Battle of the Civil War Bands on the front porch of Old Centre. The 50-minute concert is, like all GABBF events, free and open to the public

During the event, two historical-period Civil War bands that will be playing ‘solo’ concerts throughout the festival—Saxton’s Cornet Band of Kentucky and Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Michigan—will do ‘battle.’ They will be alternating tunes from their repertoire, demonstrating the best brass band music of both the North and the South during that great conflict.

Plans are underway for the two groups then to combine at the end on several items that would have been played by both sides in the war.

Imagine a time when two armies were across a river from each other, and regimental bands from both sides would compete with one another and entertain the troops. Northern bands liked to play ‘Dixie’ as much as the Southern units and Southern bands were not above playing Union favorites, too!

Both bands use Civil War-era instruments, wear authentic uniforms of the period, and only perform music played by the bands during the conflict, frequently playing of facsimile copies of band books carried by the bands within the war. They follow what is known as ‘historically-informed’ performance practice.

Each band will supply its own commentary, or back ground for their contributions in the concert.  Whether a vote will be taken at the end of the concert to see who ‘won’ remains to be seen!  

This festive event should prove of great and wide interest, and will provide a suitable conclusion to the great 4-day event.

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History Conference set for 2011 Brass Band Fest with Sousa Focus

History Conference set for 2011 Brass Band Fest with Sousa Focus

Danville, KY – Set for 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Friday, June 10 at Danville High School, the History Conference at the 2011 Great American Brass Band Festival will have a strong focus on the music and life of John Phillip Sousa.

Music historians, band enthusiasts, and folks interested in American culture can look forward to a day of band scholars and performers paying tribute to the famous musician. John Phillip Sousa IV, great-grandson of Sousa, will also attend the event.

Events on the program agenda include presentations on fascinating topics such as a detailed study of Sousa performance practice with live demonstrations by the Indiana Wind Symphony led by Colonel John Bourgois of the United States Marine Band, Sousa and his relationship with baseball, and the connection between Sousa’s band music and musical theater.

Performances include a march concert by Indiana Wind Symphony, a luncheon concert by Dodworth Saxhorn Band, and a mini-recital by young trumpet sensation Natalie Dungey.

Here’s a look at the full schedule:

Band History Conference: Sousa Symposium Schedule (Subject to Adjustment)

8:30—9:00 Registration

9:00 Welcome and Announcements: Ronald W. Holz, Conference Host

9:05 A Short Sousa March Concert: Indiana Wind Symphony

9:20 Pat Warfield, University of Maryland and Smithsonian: The March as Musical

Drama and the Spectacle of John Philip Sousa

10:00 Jon Mitchell, University of Massachusetts (Boston): John Philip Sousa’s

Adaptations of His Band Works for Theater Orchestra

10:35 Coffee Break—Fellowship—Exhibits

11:00 Colonel John Bourgeois, retired director, United States Marine Band: Aspects

of Sousa Performance Practice

12:10 Luncheon (concert by Dodworth Saxhorn Band))

1:10 John Philip Sousa IV: Sharing latest exciting developments in both film and

book concerning his great grandfather.

1:50 Charles and Ann Conrad, Indiana Wind Symphony: The Sousa Band’s Soprano

Soloists and Their Repertoire

2:30 Mini Recital—Natalie Dungey , Trumpet

3:00 Coffee Break—Fellowship—Exhibits

3:20 Scott Schwartz, University of Illinois, Sousa Archives: John Philip Sousa and

Baseball

4:00—4:30 Panel Discussion With Audience By Today’s Presenters

Click on the link to register for the event: http://www.gabbf.org/assets/90/History_Conference_Registration_Form.doc

For more information on the conference, contact Ron Holz ronald.holz@asbury.edu

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Brass Band Festival welcomes Child Prodigy

Great American Brass Band Festival

For More Information

Charlie Cox

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Danville/Boyle County Economic Development Partnership

charlie@betterindanville.com

For Immediate Release

Brass Band Festival welcomes Child Prodigy

Danville, KY—In 2011, the Great American Brass Band Festival welcomes to the stage 11-year-old child trumpet prodigy Natalie Dungey.

Although not even yet a teenager, Natalie has generated buzz around her abilities for years.

Just before her 9^th birthday, Natalie advanced to the National Trumpet Competition Junior Division round in Fairfax, V.a., based on her audition recording of the first movement of the “Concerto for Trumpet” by Hummel.

At the competition, she was featured in a master class recorded for Fox 5 News in Washington D.C. She went on to win the competition the next two years, performing the Arutunian Concerto in 2009 and then the first movement of Tomasi Concerto in 2010.

Other performances include soloing with the University of Washington combined University and Campus bands, conducted by Eric Smedley & Vu Nguyen, “Prayer of Saint Gregory” with the Northwest Symphony conducted by Anthony Spain, “The Trumpeter’s Lullaby” with the Auburn Symphony lead by

Stewart Kershaw, Del Staiger’s “Carnival of Venice” with the Sammamish Symphony under the baton of R. Joseph Scott, Mateo Messina’s “The Calvary” with the Bellevue Philharmonic conducted by Michael Miropolsky and Northwest Symphony.

Natalie’s interest in music goes back as far as she can remember. Her mother is a professional violinist and her father a trumpet teacher, band director, and NWSO's principal trumpet. As a toddler, she would sit on her father's lap, attending trumpet lessons and rehearsals for the church orchestra, grabbing the mouthpiece and playing any chance she got. She could be found dragging an old trumpet her dad gave her around the house and blasting away. She begged him to teach her, but, he refused, believing she was too young. Undeterred, Natalie assigned herself the first few pages of a method book. After practicing them diligently, she put stars on the ones she could do well and again asked for her dad to teach her. Finally, at age 7 she began

formal lessons with her dad, insisting that he teach her "just like his students." 

Natalie resides in Issaquah with her family and enjoys reading, school, nail polish, shopping (Lululemon!), doing crazy Yoga poses around the house, and playing with her friends.

For more information on Natalie, as well as the exciting weekend planned for the 2011 Great American Brass Band Festival, please review our website and social media links listed below.

The Great American Brass Band Official Site: ttp://www.gabbf.org/

Official Blog: http://greatamericanbrassbandfestival.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DanvilleGABBF

Survey

What would you like to see more of at this years Great American Brass Band Festival?  Tell us by following the link and participating in a quick and easy survey: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8BQ8TLZ