A S E B R S B A T H N D BRIDGE H issue 104 The Official Publication of the North American Brass Band Association may, 2007 who return to rehearsal each week so we can all UNDER THE BRIDGE enjoy such interesting and excellent perfor- IN THIS ISSUE mances at our Championships. Douglas Yeo This year the NABBA Championships proved ATOP THE BRIDGE that the time of the “dynasty” in NABBA’s top From the President, pg. 2 Editor sections is over - at least for now. The Cham- pionship, Honors and Challenge sections all were won by bands that had never won before. SUPPORT NABBA ith the final chord of The Blessing, All of us at NABBA congratulate the winners Book, pennant & pin, pg. 3 performed by the USA Southern in both the band competition and the solo and Territorial Band of the Salvation small ensemble competition. Of course we all WArmy at the gala concert, the NABBA XXV sit and analyze the judge’s scores and com- NABBA BAND NEWS Championships came to a close. From all ments, trying to figure out/justify/understand pg. 4 reports it was a tremendously successful event. the placings and staying away from the com- With a record 28 competing bands, a record mon thought that if your band won, the judges number of vendors and program advertisers are geniuses and if you did not win, the judges BAND PROGRAMS and record number of participants, NABBA are crazy! This is the beauty of live music: pg. 8 now looks forward to the beginning of the next while there are objective criteria that can always 25 years of our Association’s history. be pointed to that are factors in scoring, it is the subjective element, “Did the music move NABBA XXV CHAMPION- Looking over the NABBA history display that me?”, that is the intangible that can never be SHIPS REVIEWS greeted all who came into the Ogle Center at explained. All NABBA bands that competed Indiana University Southeast during the Cham- at the Championships can be proud of their Comprehensive coverage, pionships weekend, one was keenly aware of accomplishments even as their 2006-07 seasons pg. 11 how NABBA had grown since it was formed in are drawing to a close and we all prepare to 1983. You could only imagine how NABBA’s build toward next season. founders would have responded to the tre- NABBA XXVI: mendous flow of audience and band members The NABBA Board of Directors will be meet- IMPORTANT INFO around the Ogle and Student Centers. Every ing in September to choose test pieces for pg. 32 year, each section at the Championships seems the 2008 Championships and work to chart to raise the bar by performing more and more NABBA’s course for the coming years. With challenging repertoire. This is a feast not only this in mind, it should be said that Louisville, ENTRANCE RAMP: for band members who work so hard on the Kentucky, is facing an unprecedented hotel FOCUS ON YOUTH music but for the Championships audiences room crunch during our Championships week- who are rewarded with a nearly overwhelming end on March 28-29, 2008. We on NABBA’s pg. 33 choice of superb repertoire played by bands in Board of Directors cannot stress strongly our uniquely North American style. enough how important it is to plan NOW and YORKSHIRE AREA book your hotel rooms for 2008 NOW. Visit In this, NABBA’s third Championships that the nabba.org for continually updated information CHAMPIONSHIPS Association has hosted itself (and the second on hotel room availability. By Herb Roselle, pg. 34 held at Indiana University Southeast), we all appreciated the hard work of NABBA’s board I hope you enjoy this issue of The Bridge; please members who worked together to plan, orga- keep your news coming for all of us to enjoy. J nize and implement the weekend’s activities. EXIT RAMP President Anita Cocker Hunt’s column on page Contribute to the Bridge, two is devoted to thanking many individuals for their particular contributions. Of course, Credits, pg. 35 NABBA would not be what it is today but for the hard work of individual band members the brass band bridge, issue 104 1 the official publication of nabba may, 2007 I certainly enjoyed Sheona White’s session, we place, etc. This year seemed more hectic than ATOP THE BRIDGE would, again, be happier to see more NABBA ever, but we made it! Tom Scheibner ran a great members supporting these worthy events. competition and we should be grateful to him for all of the work he puts into the week end We had more exhibitors than ever thanks to – more than we know! Anita Cocker Hunt Paul Droste and his hard work. It is worth- while to the exhibitors to come to NABBA and The NABBA Board invited the USA Southern NABBA President they all had positive comments. Territorial Band of The Salvation Army to present the Gala Concert and they met our Buffet Crampon USA, the major sponsor for expectations. The music was top notch and our Championships, was such a delight. Meet- Greetings NABBA Members, presented in a professional manner. Sheona ing these gentlemen was a thrill and they were White was on target as soloist, even after judg- NABBA just successfully completed its 25th so involved in the competition week end. I ing all day and giving a clinic on Friday and anniversary Championships. What a great hope to see them again next year. How appre- judging all day Saturday. She has the most weekend it was. After bad weather that caused ciative we are for their support and enthusiasm beautiful tenor horn sound and delivers such flight delays, the judges finally arrived on for brass banding. Tor Banners had an artistic fluid playing. Jude Gotrich, the vocal soloist, Thursday evening. After a full day of travel input and influence on our 25th anniversary. was in her prime with powerful performances. and meeting with Contest Controller Tom Looking at the stages for the band competi- She has such control of the voice. I am a friend Scheibner and Associate Controller John de of Jude from long ago and I was so happy to Salme, the historic Brown Hotel was a wel- see her and thrilled to hear her sing again. come sight for them. It was especially good Congratulations to the USA Southern Territo- to see the return of Tom Palmatier, NABBA rial Band and Dr. Richard Holz for presenting President from 1991-2001, and Tim Holtan, a memorable Gala Concert. Contest Controller from 1996-1998, as judges. At the NABBA membership meeting during As you witnessed over the week end, the the Reading Band session, the NABBA Board NABBA Board members are active and work awarded Tom a lifetime NABBA membership. very hard to make NABBA a successful organi- zation. Thanks to our Board members for their Friday began early with the arrival of ex- untiring contributions and active involvement hibitors, food service staff, soloists, Indiana in NABBA. Please be assured that NABBA University Southeast staff and volunteers. IUS Jon Handley of Tor Banners presents Anita Cocker is involved in many other things besides the is under construction at this time so we all had Hunt with a NABBA Championships stand banner. competition, although that is a major focus to work around that this year with the promise for the year. NABBA supports many festivals that next year will be twice as good. The food tion was aesthetically appealing and classically throughout the country all year long including service staff bent over backwards to make sure attractive. Thank you to Tor Designs for their the Great American Brass Band Festival and that everyone was well fed and they served us “in kind” donation of the stand banners and the International Music Camp. with cheerfulness and friendly smiles. We are prize banners. This is a top quality banner to indebted to IUS for providing the facilities for be proud of in years to come. As Perry Watson, our founder said, “To see the growth and development of NABBA over these the competition at no cost to NABBA Dr. Other offerings during the weekend were a Joanna Goldstein works endless hours to make past twenty-five years is awesome and inspir- clinic on computer software for writing music, ing.” sure that everything runs smoothly and we owe a certificate for Professional Development her a big thanks. The soloists and ensembles credit (very classy looking and created by Dr. May we continue to grow over the next 25 arrived along with those who wanted to listen Joanna Goldstein), and an attractive Champi- years, one year at a time! or register for the weekend. The registration onships program (our largest ever), assembled table, thanks to Jim Grate, was well organized by Douglas Yeo. There was also a history table Thanks to all of you for being a part of and went very smoothly. covering the first 25 years of NABBA, created NABBA. through the research of Pat and Diana Herak. Last year when we did not have a Reading Have a great summer. J Band there were requests to bring it back; it Saturday began very early with the band com- returned on Friday night thanks to Ron Holz’s petitions starting at 8:00 A.M. They were well efforts but we would have been pleased with attended with a lot of excitement throughout more participation from NABBA members. the whole day. Again, it was a smooth running The Gala Band formed the nucleus for this day with just a few bumps in the road.