http://www.griersonsociety.com

P.O. Box 116
852 East State Street 
Jacksonville 
62651 

info@griersonsociety.com

For a complete schedule of events, visit their website:

About the CD: THE HUMBOLDT BRASS BAND | 1866 – ca. 1880
Upon his return home to Kansas following the Civil War, bandsman Richard Redfield formed the Humboldt Brass Band in the spring of 1866. The band’s hand-written part books survive to this day, carefully collected and preserved by Carl Busch (former conductor of the Kansas City Symphony) and later the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois where they are housed today. This recording is a sampling of the over 70 works found in these books, brought back to life for the first time in over a century by the Vintage Brass Band

Click here to purchase the CD (physical disc or download)!

This special concert was made possible through the research and friendly cooperatoin of musicologist and Grierson scholar Dr. Laverne Wagner of Quincy, Illinois.

Note: These recordings are for private use only. Written permission from the Vintage Brass Band is required for any other purpose including commercial use or public broadcast.  Please use the Contact Us link to request permission.

Composed by A.J.R. Connert, Victoria Gallop was one of many popular dance tunes written to commemorate the 1838 coronation of Queen Victoria.  You may notice in the background of these recordings the sound of the Central Illinois Civil War Dance Society and others dancing!

It is no surprise that this popular dancing tune was included in Grierson’s books. During her tour of the United States in 1850 through 1851, Jenny Lind gave six performances in St. Louis, Missouri. Benjamin Grierson made an extraordinary effort and incurred great expense when he travelled down the River to attend all six performances.

Possibly arranged by Grierson himself, this medley contains three popular tunes, the second of which has not been identified. Please contact us if you are familiar with this melody!

This polka was found in Grierson’s books dating back to his youth in Youngstown Ohio. It is very typical of popular dance music of the time.

General Lafayette of France made an important contribution to the Revolutionay War. Arthur Clifton penned this work to celebrate Lafayette’s return visit to the United States in 1824.

The inclusion of works from Italian Opera composer Vincenzo Bellini is an indication that Grierson’s band was rather sophisticated for its time.

Proceeds of this fundraiser will benefit two local projects, the restoration of the Grierson Monument and the General Grierson Days re-enactment. Tickets are $30 per person or $255 for a table of 8.

From 6:00 – 7:00, a quartet will perform danceable music in conjunction with the Central Illinois Civil War Dance Society.  Starting at 8:00, the Vintage Brass Band will perform an entire concert of music from General Grierson’s own collection, dating from the 1840′s until the start of the Civil War. Hope to see you there!

Download the official event flyer here.

Schedule:
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Cocktail Hour
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Complimentary Journal-Courier Front Page featuring your photograph
5:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Silent Antique Auction and Bidding in the Blue Room
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Performance by the Central Illinois Civil War Dance Society
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Delicious Dinner featuring Pit Ham with Bourbon and Peach Glaze and Grilled Chicken Breast with Hunter Sauce
8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Grierson Concert Music and Dancing

Highlights of the Vintage Brass Band’s Inaugural 2009 season include performances at the 7^th Annual Boneyard Arts Festival, 14th Annual General Grierson Liberty Days in Jacksonville, the Capital 4th of July Celebration in Springfield, the Dedication of the Historic Mt. Pulaski Bandshell, a performance before Bill T. Jones’ Fondly Do We Hope, Fervently Do We Pray at the Ravina Festival Grounds in Chicago, and Spare some Change? – Granny’s Porch Looks at the 1930’s Through America’s Music at the Virginia Theater in Champaign, IL.

In December, the Vintage Brass Band presented A Vintage Brass Christmas, the group’s first major concert featuring 17th Century antiphonal music by Giovanni Gabrieli and 19th Century American band music with featured vocal soloist, soprano Mona Kreitner from Memphis, TN.

For press releases and more information about these events, visit our official Performance Calendar.

Springfield, IL; October 24, 2009 – The Vintage Brass Band of Springfield, IL presents A Vintage Brass Christmas on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. December 12, at First Presbyterian Church, 321 South 7^th St., Springfield, IL.  Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door.

The Vintage Brass Band will perform 17^th Century antiphonal music by Giovanni Gabrielli, 19^th Century American band music with a local connection, and traditional holiday carols.  Additionally, featured vocal soloist, soprano Mona Kreitner from Memphis, TN, will perform coloratura European Masterworks with historical significance to the American Band movement.

About Mona Kreitner

Soprano Mona Kreitner specializes in the virtuoso vocal music of seventeenth-century Italy and the repertoire of the coloratura sopranos from America’s “Gilded Age.”  She has appeared as a soloist with the Memphis Symphony, Germantown Symphony, the Memphis Chamber Choir, and the Kamran Ince Ensemble. Since 2002 Mona has been the soprano soloist for The Great Western Rocky Mountain Brass Band. She is active as a musicologist, presenting papers at regional and national meetings of the American Musicological Society and the Society for American Music. She is also a contributor to the forthcoming revised edition of the Grove Dictionary of American Music.

Mona earned an MM and Performer’s Certificate in voice from The Eastman School of Music, and holds the PhD in historical musicology from the University of Memphis. Her dissertation, “A Splendid Group of American Girls”: The Women Who Sang with the Sousa Band, won the University music graduate document award in 2008. Mona is on the music faculties at the University of Memphis and Rhodes College, where she teaches applied voice, Women in Music, and music history

About the Vintage Brass Band

The Vintage Brass Band of Springfield, Illinois, formed in March of 2009, is the Capital City’s only up-and-coming professional brass ensemble. The band includes a talented mix of professional musicians and accomplished local amateurs under the baton of R. Todd Cranson.

Founded in 2009, the VBB specializes in performing American brass music with great historical and cultural significance, much of which has not been performed for 100 or more years!  Artistic Director Todd Cranson’s research and collaboration with leading scholars in the field of early American band music provides the Vintage Brass Band with a diverse and interesting repertoire which includes vintage concert, popular, and dance music from the 1840′s through the turn of the 20th Century, military and patriotic music of the Civil War era, and art music from all periods of American history.

The VBB is particularly proud to perform repertoire from three special collections with historic significance to our local community: the Benjamin Grierson Collection (Jacksonville, IL, 1840′s- 1860′s), music of the Humboldt Brass Band (Humboldt, KS, 1865-1880′s), and the X.X.O.B. Band Collection (Williamsville, IL, 1900-1930′s). Selections from the Grierson Collection are featured on A Vintage Brass Christmas.

Historic Courthouse

On September 12 at 11:00am, the VBB will perform an hour long concert for the dedication of a newly constructed band shell – an exact replica of the band shell that stood on the town square almost a century ago! Stay tuned for more details.

The Vintage Brass Band will perform two one-hour concerts on the Decatur Celebration main stage featuring brass band music from the 1840′s – 1880′s. Learn about the evolution of music spanning this influential time period that contained the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War, Reconstruction and the Westward Expansion.

Enjoy rare operatic arrangements and popular tunes performed from the Benjamin Grierson collection, the earliest set of band music in the United States, circa 1840. A decade or two later, patriotism was all the rage on both sides of the Mason-Dixon following the secession of the South. The VBB will present brass music from both sides of the conflict.  Finally,  it was former Civil War musicians who brought the band tradition to the western states. Thanks to the generosity of Scott Schwartz, Director of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, VBB Artistic Director Todd Cranson will present music of the Humboldt Brass Band of Humboldt Kansas after a century-long slumber. Formed by Richard R. Redfield in 1866, the Humboldt Band was on the frontier of musical development. The Humboldt Band’s unique arrangements, including the “Bass Ball Quickstep” exude the pride and confidence of a forward-looking nation. The band continued to charm audiences into the 1880′s.

We hope you enjoy our performances at the 2009 Decatur Celebration!