The Brass Band of Minot is celebrating the coming season with a concert titled “Brass Celebration” at 4:00 PM on Sunday, November 10th at MSU’s Ann Nicole Nelson Hall. The band is the only British-style brass band in North Dakota and is directed by Gordon Troxel and consists of brass and percussion players of a variety of ages and experiences from Minot and other communities in Northwest North Dakota who share a love of brass band music.
The concert will open with James Curnow’s powerful “Fanfare Prelude,” an arrangement of the popular German hymn, “Lobe den Herren” or “Praise to the Lord.” The band will continue with Oliver Waespi’s “Graces of Love,” a festive piece based on a book of Renaissance dance tunes published in 1602 by dance master Cesare Negri, followed by Aubrey Winter’s arrangement of Jaime Texidor’s “Amparito Roca,” a lively piece written in the Paso Doble, or Spanish two-step, style. As November 10th is the 244th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, the band will play John Phillip Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis,” the Marine Corps official march, as a birthday tribute. The concert will transition to a holiday mood with a sparkling rendition of Felix Bernard’s classic “Winter Wonderland,” arranged by Phillip Sparke, and conclude with majestic music from Georg Friedrich Handel’s “Messiah.”
The Brass Band of Minot first came together in 1994 when members of a local brass group who played in Minot area churches and attendees at a workshop about British-style brass band music at Minot State University decided to form a band to bring British-style brass band music to North Dakota. Part of the unique appeal of a British-style brass band is that it features instruments that are not part of a standard concert band such as cornets, fluegelhorns, altoniums, and E-flat tubas which provide a more mellow sound.
The Brass Band of Minot’s 2019-2020 season will continue with concerts on November 10th, February 16, and March 29th. All the performances will be at 4:00 PM at Ann Nicole Nelson Hall. Brass Band of Minot concerts are free and open to the public though cash and check donations are very welcome.
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.