Brass Band of Columbus
THE BRASS BAND OF COLUMBUS
Founded in 1984, the Brass Band of Columbus (BBC) has been at the forefront of the resurgence of the American brass band movement for nearly thirty years. The band’s instrumentation is brass and percussion only, following the tradition of British brass bands. The unpaid professionals who make up this 45-piece ensemble include over thirty active or retired music educators and a wide range of other professions. The BBC was founded by Dr. Paul Droste, Emeritus Professor of Music at The Ohio State University and former director of the OSU Marching Band. Tim Jameson served as Director from July 2005 until March 2010, and Brian Stevens served as interim Director and was later selected as the Director in August 2010, and his tenure remains.
WHAT IS A BRASS BAND?
Much more than marches and oom-pah, the Brass Band of Columbus (BBC) is rooted in the tradition of the British brass band. This tradition calls for a specific combination of brass instruments along with a percussion section. Unlike traditional wind bands that use trumpets and French horns, the brass band uses cornets and E-flat alto horns for these voices. The design of all the instruments in the brass band can be simplified to say that they are all different sizes of essentially the same conical-bore instrument…with the obvious exception of the trombone. This homogeneity allows for a rich and balanced sound that cannot be duplicated in other ensembles. Interestingly, part of the tradition calls for all the parts for brass band music to be written in the treble clef…from soprano cornet down to tuba. The only exception is the bass trombone, written in the bass clef.
BBC APPEARANCES
The BBC averages over twenty yearly appearances at indoor and outdoor venues, community events, and church services. Major appearances include The Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, The Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky, the Ohio Music Educators Association Conference, and state, national, and international conferences of musical organizations. In 2000, the BBC performed as a part of the British Open Brass Band competition in Birmingham, England.
COMPETITION
The BBC is a North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) member, an organization devoted to promoting brass bands and banding in North America. Each year NABBA hosts a competition for its member bands. At these contests, a highly-esteemed panel of international judges critiques bands in five performance divisions, called sections. The BBC competes in the top division, the Championship Section, and has been awarded First Place ten times, most recently in April 2006. No other North American brass band approaches this record of excellence. The BBC hosted the contest in 1987, 1992, and 1996. In April 2009, the band traveled to Toronto, Ontario, to participate in the Hannaford Festival of Bands and returned to Columbus having won the Hannaford Cup.
The Brass Band of Columbus is specified in the Mission of the God and Country Concert to be the fixed community brass band that is joined annually by a Salvation Army Band for this event. See Mission and History.
RECORDINGS
The BBC’s first commercial recording, Lead On!, was released in 1994. Its second recording is called The Champions and was released in 1998. “Americans We” was released in 2000 in conjunction with the band’s trip to England. Brass Band Christmas was released in 2001. Gifted Leadership – An Anthology of March Masterpieces, dedicated to the band’s founder Dr. Paul Droste, was released in 2006. One of the band’s more recent recordings, Strike Up the Brass Band, was released in May 2008. However, the BBC has been in production of a new CD recording due to launch in 2015.
Visit the Brass Band of Columbus website: https://www.brassbandofcolumbus.org