Spotlight - January 2010
2010 - BBBC 20th Anniversary !!
![[Main Picture for 2010 - BBBC 20th Anniversary !!]](/images/showcase_pics/104%2Dbbbc%5F20yr%5Fsilver%20web%2Ejpg)
There are no tickets remaining for the July 2 concert at W.K. Kellogg Auditorium.
The Brass Band of Battle Creek is celebrating an inpsiring history. In August of 1989, Jim and Bill Gray held a brass band seminar at Kellogg Community College. Initially only local musicians were invited, but because it was summer as well as high school band camp time, the band could not attract a large enough contingent or proper mix of instruments. The decision was made to go outside the greater Battle Creek area for participants. It turned out that many of the best musicians in Michigan and the Midwest were very interested in brass bands and participating in the seminar. The seminar and subsequent concert was successful enough to consider continuing on and forming the Brass Band of Battle Creek, with the first concert performed at KCC in May 1990.
During this time, Jim and Bill were involved with the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Muskegon, and this involvement brought them into contact with many of the best brass players in the world. Marty Erickson, then principal tubist with U.S. Navy Band, Phil Sinder tuba professor at MSU, the late Luis Maldonado tuba and euphonium professor at CMU, and Scott Thornburg trumpet professor at WMU, were interested in being part of the band.
With a very fine group of local area musicians, augmented by people with world class credentials, we knew we could have a great band. The only problem left to solve was financing. This challenge was solved when the band learned about the W.K. Kellogg Foundation “Expert in Residence” Program. The Foundation took an intererst in the BBBC musical and educational offerings and has been a sustaining donor ever since.
The band continues to attract great musicians from around the USA and Europe. Stars of the brass world including Steven Mead from England, Scott Hartman, and Wycliffe Gordon are all BBBC members. The BBBC’s list of brass guest soloists includes Marvin Stamm, Vince DiMartino, and trumpet legend Doc Severinsen. The band has performed at several prestigious venues including the International Trumpet Guild “Brassfest” in Bloomington, Indiana, and the International Trombone Associations annual world meeting in Champaign, Illinois. In October 1998 the BBBC traveled to England to perform at their National Brass Band festival at the Royal Albert Hall. The BBBC is the first non-British Brass Band to ever perform at the championships. Following this event the band spent another week in the UK performing at concerts in Wales, Birmingham and Manchester. A CD “Britain and Brass” was produced from concert recordings made during the trip.
Christmas 2000 the band performed at the University of Kentucky as part of their guest artist series. The BBBC was the first band to ever be accorded this honor. Spring 2001 saw the BBBC tour the state of Michigan; performing in Battle Creek, Interlochen, and Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan.
The BBBC was invited to perform at the Grand Cayman Islands’ National Heroes Day Celebrations in January of 2007, 2008, and 2009. The band also performed at Millennium Park in the Jay Pritzker Pavillion to a crowd of thousands in Chicago in August 2008, as a part of the city’s free cultural events.
Philip Sparke was commissioned to compose “Music for Battle Creek”, with its first American Performance in Battle Creek in December 2007. This piece was also used in Europe in the fall of 2007 for the International Brass Band competition and also won an award for test piece of the year.
The BBBC has many special events planned for our anniversary year in 2010. Some of these include:
The free concert on July 2, 2010 has no tickets remaining. We are sorry for those who wanted to attend, but seating is limited to the capacity of the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium.
The guest conductor is Damon Gupton, a Detroit native who enjoys alternating conducting appearances with his acting roles. Damon received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Michigan, then went on to earn his diploma from The Drama Division of the Juilliard School in New York. He studied conducting with David Zinman and Murry Sidlin at the Aspen Music Festival and with Leonard Slatkin at the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C
A Featured piece of the evening is SPEEDGETSEM, composed by William Bolcom, especially for the Brass Band of Battle Creek. Bolcom is an American composer of chamber, operatic, vocal, choral, cabaret, ragtime, and symphonic music. As a composer, Bolcom has written four violin sonatas; eight symphonies; three operas (McTeague, A View from the Bridge and A Wedding), plus several musical theater operas; eleven string quartets; two film scores (Hester Street and Illuminata); incidental music for stage plays, including Arthur Miller's Broken Glass; fanfares and occasional pieces; and an extensive catalogue of chamber and vocal works.
Other concert highlights include the first movement of Concerto for Two Trumpets and Brass Band with Chris Jaudes and Rex Richardson, Me/We- I Saw The Light featuring Wycliffe Gordon and members of the Brazeal Dennard Singers, and 'Neath the Dublin Sky featuring Steve Mead.
· 20th Anniversary Weekend on December 3rd and 4th, 2010. These special concerts will feature a look back at the band’s remarkable 20-year history and a look forward at what’s to come. Click here for a ticket order form.
Spring 2011 will bring the band back to Battle Creek for a March 26th performance, followed by a special finale at Orchestra Hall in Detroit on March 27.
Stay tuned for lots more info on this year-long celebration. We would like to thank the many patrons and supporters who have helped make the band’s accomplishments possible.