Springfield Capital Celebration, Friday Night

Friday, July 3, 2009 – evening

The Vintage Brass Band will perform in cooperation with the 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment from approximately 5:30 – 6:15 on the Old State Capital lawn in Springfield, IL.

Our special Independence Day concert will feature patriotic music from the the Benjamin Grierson Collection, the books of the Humboldt Brass Band, and music of numerous Civil War era military bands.

The Grierson collection, housed in the Illinois State Archives and at Ft. Davis, TX, is the earliest collection of band music in the United States, circa 1840. The Grierson band performed in Springfield, IL during Abraham Lincoln’s tenure in the Capital City. Special thanks to Lavern Wagner, Musicologist from Quincy College in Quincy, Illinois for his assistance and dedicated research into this collection.

The Humboldt Brass Band was the pride of Central Kansas when ex-Civil War musician, Richard R. Redfield returned from the war and started up a band in the tiny town of Humboldt. At the Capital City Celebration, you will hear the very same patriotic tunes that the band performed on July 4th, 1876 on the Humboldt town square. The band books of the Humboldt Brass Band are part of the Carl Bush Collection at the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music in Champaign, IL.  Special thanks to the Sousa Archives for their work to preserve this American treasure.

We hope you enjoy our performance at the 2009 Capital City Celebration! Please check this page frequently.  We are still firming up details for a possible second performance the following evening, July 4th on the Old State Capital lawn.

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Fourteenth Annual General Grierson Liberty Days in Jacksonville, IL

Friday, June 19, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Jacksonville, Illinois’ Community Park the VBB will perform a one hour concert, Vintage 1840-1865:  Music of General Benjamin Grierson.  Grierson’s collection of music, researched and arranged by Dr. Lavern Wagner, represents the oldest collection of American band music of its size.  Join the VBB as it celebrates the man and his music, and kicks off the Fourteenth Annual General Grierson Liberty Days!

For more information about the Grierson Days celebration, visit this link:  http://www.griersonsociety.com/.  Also, be sure to check back here for sounds, pictures, and more information about this special collection of American band music.

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Boneyard Arts Festival w/ the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Saturday, April 18, 2009 – 11:00am – 3:00pm

Join us on April 18th, 2009 in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois for the premiere performance of the Vintage Brass Band. By invitation of Scott Schwartz, Director of the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the band will recreate a July 4, 1876 Centennial celebration concert performed by the Humboldt, Kansas Brass Band. The band will perform original arrangements from the Humboldt Books using the Archive’s restored set of brass instruments from the nineteenth century. Both the music and instruments are part of the Carl Busch Papers and Music Instrument Collection housed at the Archives.

Boneyard Arts Festival

Part of the Boneyard Arts Festival, the band will be performing arrangements from the Humboldt Books throughout the day from 11am – 3pm at the Archives, #236 Harding Band Building, 1103 S Sixth St, Champaign, IL. Festival visitors who arrive on the Boneyard Trolley will be treated to a tour of the Archives and a trip back in time to experience the sounds of authentic 1870′s brass music.

Related Links:
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
7th Annual Boneyard Arts Festival
Carl Busch Papers and Music Instrument Collection, ca. 1833-1924

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