Lake Wobegon® Brass Band

This spring, I interviewed a representative from the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band. Here is their YouTube Channel and here is their website. I asked some questions regarding their ensemble's history.
Lake Wobegon® Brass Band promotional photo

The gentleman I interviewed is named Brett Krohn and he is a cornet player in the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band. He has been involved with the band for most of it’s existence.  He has played second cornet, repiano cornet, flugelhorn, and currently plays solo cornet three. In regards to the below interview, Krohn said that The responses are just from my perspective.  I don’t know that they fully represent our band or our other leaders.  I hope the information is helpful.
1.      How do you describe the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band? What is their goal?
The Lake Wobegon® Brass Band is a British style brass band committed to performing fine brass band literature.  Our mission statement: “To promote British brass band music throughout the Midwest of the United States.”
2.      Has performing changed since the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band was formed? If yes, how?
The performing has only changed in the level of our playing.  It has improved over the years, and as the playing level of our members has increased.
3.      Have audiences changed over the years? If yes, how?
We continue to reach new audiences by playing in different venues and for various events/series, while continuing to build audiences at venues we perform at annually.  Our audiences are still mainly in the older generations – seemingly typical of today’s audiences at fine arts events.

4.      Can you discuss your thoughts regarding the recent brass band Renaissance in the United States?
We have had the opportunity to travel to England a couple times, even sharing time with the Black Dyke Band and Nick Childs.  To witness firsthand their musicianship was amazing.  To see it catching on here in the States is exciting!
Lake Wobegon® Brass Band at one of many outdoor venues

5.      What were some of your biggest struggles when you first began performing together?
As we began 27 or so years ago, the challenge was finding enough good players.  The next challenge was the instruments themselves.  Not many trumpet players owned good cornets – some had old student instruments.  Then the alto horn situation was the next biggest challenge – do you get horn players or convert trumpet players?  Use French horns and transpose?  Purchase alto horns?  Etc..  Also, the treble clef reading was foreign to some brass players back then.

6.      What did the early rehearsals look like? What do they look like now?
Rehearsals have looked similar over our time together.  We have had two conductors who each have done a great job of challenging us.  We get a tuning note and get right to the music.  We rehearse 4 Saturday mornings for 3 hours in preparation for a weekend series of concerts.  That has remained the same throughout our history.

7.      How do you increase the audience and make the Lake Wobegon® Brass Band more appealing to those not familiar with your specialty genre?
This is a constant challenge for us.  We are using more email and Facebook to try to engage younger audiences and making them aware of our concerts.  Word of mouth and personal connections to members (current and past) seems to be the best way to expand our audiences, along with word of mouth from those that have attended our concerts in the past.

8.      Have there been struggles keeping the group going after all these years?
No.  Thankfully.  Our 3 founders, along with a number of members have been intimately involved with the band all through its history.  Their commitment, investment, leadership and involvement has led to consistent growth and strength throughout our history.

Lake Wobegon® Brass Band at Wayzata Community Church in Wayzata, Minnesota
9.      What is something that used to be important to the group but now is less important or has changed considerably over the years?
I can’t think of anything.  The mission of the group hasn’t changed.  All I can think of is the seemingly constant challenge of repertoire – how to balance the entertainment factor of performing only familiar tunes and arrangements with tackling the contest pieces which are a stretch not only for us as players, but for our audiences as well.

10.  What are some of your favorite achievements as a group?
Our 25th anniversary celebration was pretty cool.  We have performed at our Minnesota Music Educators Association convention a couple times.  We have toured to England 3 times.  We have a solid relationship with acclaimed Philip Wilby and have commissioned a couple works from him.  We shared the stage with Nicholas Childs and the Black Dyke Band while over there during our last tour.  What a treat that was!

11.  Do you have any additional words of wisdom for those embarking on performing careers?
Establish and foster your networks.  Get your name out there.  Be willing to be a part of as many performing opportunities as you can.  Build experiences.  Learn from each performance.  While technical perfection is the expectation, never forget to play from the heart.


Some sample performances in a variety of genres:



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dodworth Saxhorn Band

Image
This post is about another period-specific group: The Dodworth Saxhorn Band. So you probably are familiar with the horn and are probably familiar with the saxophone - so what is a saxhorn? Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) was a Belgian inventor who contributed a lot to music throughout his innovations. The saxophone family, his invention, is named after him. He also influenced the development of the tuba and euphonium via other instruments like his saxhorns . Wikipedia  also has some interesting information. So, now that everyone knows about saxhorns, I would like to introduce the Dodworth Saxhorn Band. The Dodworth Saxhorn Band in period dress. The Dodworth Saxhorn Band  is modeled after a similarly-named Dodworth band that was well-respected ensemble whose heyday was in New York City from 1840 to 1880. This ensemble was reborn in 1985 thanks to the avid instrument collector Alexander Pollock. Today's Dodworth Saxhorn Band is based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The band only ...
Read more

Rayner Brown

Image
Rayner Brown was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1912. At age 14, Brown would move to California and live there for the rest of his life. He attended the University of Southern California where he completed a B.M. in organ and a M.M. in composition. He studied with Hanns Eisler and Lucien Cailliet. He would go on to teach at Biola University for thirty years until his retirement in 1977. Brown's primary instrument was the organ therefore he maintained various church positions as well some notable leader positions in organ guilds. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that much of his compositional output involves the organ. His catalogue includes over two-hundred compositions including a Requiem Mass for Winnie the Pooh. Throughout his career,  Brown was asked to compose numerous commissions, received multiple Ford Foundation grants and was even the recipient of ASCAP awards for a surprising fifteen years straight. Rayner Brown  passed away in 1999. The Music of Rayner ...
Read more

Garden Rain - Toru Takemitsu

Image
Toru Takemitsu  (1930-1996) was a Japanese composer. He first heard Western art music when a military officer played a record for him and his fellow soldiers. After the war, in 1948, Takemitsu began studying composition with Kiyose. Takemitsu would remain largely self-taught in all things composition. Toru Takemitsu Takemitsu's greatest influences include Debussy and Messiaen. The timeless quality of their music can be heard in his music. Like them, he composed music with ambiguity: using modal melodies to mask the harmony for example. His 1957 Requiem caught the attention of Igor Stravinsky and this helped Takemitsu receive more recognition. Toru Takemitsu In 1964, he was invited to contribute to a series of lectures in Hawai'i by the East West Center. Another composer present, one who was a generation older than Takemitsu, was John Cage . The two exchanged many ideas but interestingly, Takemitsu was already employing some of Cage's most unique approaches: ind...
Read more