PrairieBrass.org
Title
Prairie Brass Band - Arlington Heights, Illinois
Description
Founded in 1997, the Prairie Brass Band is a not-for-profit performing arts organization which aspires to the highest musical standards and is dedicated to the growth of the brass band movement in the Chicago area and throughout North America. PBB's 35 volunteer members travel from all over Chicago and its suburbs to attend rehearsals and performances. PBB performs about ten concerts per year in the Chicago area. In addition, PBB competes in the North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) Championships and participates in regional brass band festivals such as the Grand Celebration of Brass Bands in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Since its formation, the conductor of the Prairie Brass Band has been Dallas Niermeyer, a nationally recognized music adjudicator and recently-retired director of bands at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Under his direction PBB has won two NABBA titles, including one in the Challenge Section in 1998, PBB's first year of competition - an outstanding feat for a new band! Since then, PBB has competed in the Honors Section (the next highest section) and has shown improvement each year, including another victory at the 2002 competition, which was held in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Prairie Brass Band uses traditional British brass band instrumentation: cornets instead of trumpets, tenor horns instead of french horns, both euphoniums and baritones, and E-flat and B-flat tubas, as well as percussion. The music for every instrument in the band is written in treble clef, except for the bass trombone (which is a story in itself). Since the band competes in a national contest every year, there is a great incentive to continually improve. Most players, however, are attracted to the band simply because the music is challenging, widely varied, and fun to play. Unlike an orchestra or wind band, brass bands have no string or reed instruments and the percussion section is smaller, which increases the musical demand on the musicians to fill all the voices of the orchestra. In a brass band all of the musicians are more active and get to play throughout the pieces, making greater use of their skills.
Additional Information
Related Domains
- Arlington Heights
- Arnhem
- Arts
- Band
- Baritone
- Bourgeois
- Brass
- Brass Bands
- Brazil
- Championships
- Chicago
- Classical
- Clog Dance
- Cornet
- Dimensions
- Euphonium
- Fanfare For The Prairie
- Flugel Horn
- Illinois
- Kirkby Lonsdale
- Langford
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- Lord's Prayer
- Music
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- Nabba
- Northwest Suburbs
- Open
- Pastime With Good Company
- Percussion
- Renton
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- Trombone
- Trumpet
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- U.S
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- NABBA