The St. Louis Brass Band presents the inaugural Gateway British Brass Band Festival on November 1-2, 2019, at Ritenour High School Auditorium, St.Louis, Missouri.
This own choice contest has drawn eight participating bands from across the Midwest and Mid-South making it one of the largest brass band events in the region this year. Dr. John Bell, Music Director of the St. Louis Brass Band said, “This event is the culmination of an entire year of planning. We are excited to partner with NABBA to bring this new event to the brass band world and hope to build it so that in future years we attract bands from across the United States.” Participants: Arkansas Musicworks Brass Band (Bentonville, Arkansas); Chicago Brass Band (Chicago, Illinois); Dublin Silver Brass Band (Columbus, Ohio); East Central University Brass (Ada, Oklahoma); Eastern Iowa Brass Band (Mt. Vernon, Iowa); Ft. Zumwalt High School Brass (St. Peters, Missouri); St. Louis Brass Band (St. Louis, Missouri); St. Louis Youth Brass Band (St. Louis, Missouri)
A special feature of the festival is that it will present masterclasses and clinics on Friday evening, including a session presented by Tony Granados and Dr. John Bell on the revised NABBA judging system. This new system will be first utilized at the Gateway Festival. NABBA President, Tony Granados stated, “NABBA is really excited to welcome and support the new Gateway Brass Band Festival. With the development of a new scoring approach it will be really fascinating to see how the bands like it.”
In addition, the St. Louis Brass Band under Dr. Bell’s direction, will perform a concert Friday evening at 8 pm featuring Mr. Granados as guest conductor and Professor J.D. Shaw as solo French horn. Professor Shaw’s appearance is courtesy of Conn-Selmer.
Adjudicators for the event include Dr. Kenneth Kroesche, Professor of Low Brass and Music Director for the Oakland University Brass Band, Dr. Sharon Huff, Professor of Euphonium Emeritus, Millikin University and Music Director of the Central Illinois Brass Band and Past- President of the International Women’s Brass Conference, and Professor J.D. Shaw, Professor of Horn at the University of South Carolina, former horn and co-founder of the Boston Brass and noted arranger and composer. Dr. Jennifer Moder-Bell, Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music Education at McKendree University and solo trombone in the St. Louis Brass Band, will serve as the Section Award adjudicator. These professionals were invited to serve because of their extensive background and experience in performance and teaching at all levels.
Dr. Jennifer Moder-Bell, President of the St. Louis Brass Band said, “The St. Louis Brass Band prides itself on quality performance and education. We are proud that our festival combines both of these aspects so that the participating ensembles not only have an exceptional performance venue in which to perform but also learn from our world class adjudicators.” Saturday’s events start at 9 am with the Open/Educational session. The five band Championship Section will begin at 1:30 pm. Awards follow the contest sessions at 5 pm. All sessions are free and open to the public.
For further information please contact Dr. Matthew Frederickson, Festival Chairman, or Dr. John Bell, Music Director, St. Louis Brass Band. A complete schedule is available at stlbb.org
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