Brass Band of Minot

The Brass Band of Minot will conclude its 2024-2025 season with a concert celebrating various spring holidays titled “A Bit of Mardi Graz” on Sunday, March 30th at 4:00 PM at Minot State University’s Anne Nicole Nelson Hall.

The concert will begin with Hands Across the Sea, a toe-tapping march by John Phillip Sousa. The Beatles Gold, a medley of Beatles tunes including Eight Days a Week, Yesterday, and Yellow Submarine arranged by Jan Van Kraeydonck will follow. Next will be Arthur Benjamin’s Jamaican Rumba, a fun little piece arranged by Anthony Spurgin, followed by another march, Them Basses by G. H. Huffine. Unusually, Them Basses lets the lower-pitched instruments play the melody throughout while the higher-pitched instruments who usually dominate the medley provide color and flourishes but generally take the back seat. The concert will change mood with J.S. Bach’s dramatic Come, Sweet Death which feels appropriately Lenten. The mood will change from mournful to celebratory in the Mardi Gras-like Dixieland-style Just a Closer Walk with Thee. The celebratory Praise to the Lord and an encore will conclude the concert.

The Brass Band of Minot is directed by Wayne Schempp and consists of brass and percussion players from northwest North Dakota who share a love of British-style brass band music. Players range from high school students to professional music educators.

Brass Band of Minot concerts are free and open to the public though cash and check donations are very welcome and help pay for the band’s expenses. The hall has a hearing loop system for hearing aid users and an elevator accessible from the east side of Old Main.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The band will be back on October 19th for the first concert of its 2025-2026 season.