Boxfive
New Member
Hello! I think I might actually be alone on here as a brass Bander in America! I hope I can teach all of you here as much as possible about the American brass band scene and learn as much as possible about the British scene.
I play the baritone in the Triangle Youth Brass Band in North Carolina, which is to my knowledge the second largest youth brass band program in America. In America, brass banding is not nearly as popular but the makeup of the band is just the same-- standard British brass band instrumentation. The strange thing is that, here, the instruments used in brass band are different from what we would normally play. In America, before joining a brass band, cornet players are all used to playing trumpet, tenorn players are used to playing French horn, and baritone players are used to playing euphonium. So for us in America, brass band is a very unique activity to get to take part in.
The activity isn't large enough to have a full year competition season, so for most of the year we perform at local concerts. We then travel 15 hours to Indiana once a year to compete in NABBA, the North American Brass Band Association championships. This is the only competition we do, but it brings incredible bands from vast distances in North America to compete.
Personally, this is actually my first year in the brass band. Membership in the band is extremely competitive, so I didn't get in last year. I play the 2nd baritone part in the band now. I actually play in my school's wind band as a trumpet player, but I have learned to play baritone for my school's marching band. I've played trumpet for 5 years now and baritone for 1.
Hope to have some good discussion!
Patrick
I play the baritone in the Triangle Youth Brass Band in North Carolina, which is to my knowledge the second largest youth brass band program in America. In America, brass banding is not nearly as popular but the makeup of the band is just the same-- standard British brass band instrumentation. The strange thing is that, here, the instruments used in brass band are different from what we would normally play. In America, before joining a brass band, cornet players are all used to playing trumpet, tenorn players are used to playing French horn, and baritone players are used to playing euphonium. So for us in America, brass band is a very unique activity to get to take part in.
The activity isn't large enough to have a full year competition season, so for most of the year we perform at local concerts. We then travel 15 hours to Indiana once a year to compete in NABBA, the North American Brass Band Association championships. This is the only competition we do, but it brings incredible bands from vast distances in North America to compete.
Personally, this is actually my first year in the brass band. Membership in the band is extremely competitive, so I didn't get in last year. I play the 2nd baritone part in the band now. I actually play in my school's wind band as a trumpet player, but I have learned to play baritone for my school's marching band. I've played trumpet for 5 years now and baritone for 1.
Hope to have some good discussion!
Patrick
).