The 7th Indiana Sackbut Workshop, held May 22-27, 2018 in Morgantown, will focus on the music of Great Britain, which developed along a trajectory unique from that of music on the continent. We will spend time with compositions from the second half of the 15th century that were influential on the continent, then works from the musically vibrant reigns of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. With the goal of putting ourselves in the shoes of a town wait, hours of small-ensemble playing will be accompanied by sessions on solmization and mode, improvisation, and developing an overall understanding for the musical language, which includes reading from original manuscripts and printed sources. Without anyone being left feeling too out of their element, we want all participants to challenge themselves at an appropriate level, so modern editions of all the music will also be provided.
The Historic Brass Society is accepting proposals for period brass instrument performances and early brass lectures. All early brass topics from Antiquity through to the 20th century will be considered. Please submit a one-page proposal for either a performance or lecture. Lectures will be 20 minutes with an additional 10 minute question and discussion period added. Performances typically are 20 minutes to 45 minutes depending upon size and nature of the ensemble. Keyboard accompanists will be available if needed.
Submission Deadlines: November 1, 2016 For Performance Proposals; December 1, 2016 For Paper Proposals
Please send proposals to:
Symposium Program Committee: Stewart Carter, Trevor Herbert, Jeff Nussbaum, Keith Polk, Bradley Strauchen.
3/2 - The 6th Indiana Sackbut Workshop will pay a visit to Renaissance Naples, a melting pot of Hispano-Italian culture and ideas. We will be touching upon late 15th-century alta-capella repertoire, mid-16th-century improvisation, and the development of extensive chromaticism in the later 16th and early 17th centuries. As always, we will work towards adopting the frame of mind of a Renaissance musician: in addition to lots of playing in small ensembles, there will be sessions on solmization, theory and composition, and musical language, which includes reading from original manuscript and print sources. Of course, we want everyone to challenge themselves on an appropriate level, so modern editions of all the music will also be provided.
As was the case last year, an optional extra day of just sackbuts and dulcians from Tuesday, May 23 at 12 PM to Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM will allow us to explore the more chromatic music from around 1600. The official workshop for sackbuts and early double reeds runs from Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM to Sunday, May 28 at 12 PM at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN.
Here is a link to all pertinent information concerning registration and fees: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/event-registration/?ee=35
If you have any specific questions about the workshop, please feel free to contact Adam Bregman (
The abstracts for the presentations and the conference schedule (newly updated 7/5) are now available.
There will be a pizza party on Friday evening at St. Luke's in the Field Church after the concert. The cost will be $10. Please pay via paypal.com by send the funds to
Also, a bag lunch is available for Friday July 14th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The cost will be aproximately $10. Please email
Current HBS membership is required. Please make sure you are paid up with membership.
2/13 - The HBS will present the 3rd International Historic Brass Symposium in New York City on July 13-16, 2017. Many of the community's leading scholars, performers, ensembles and instrument makers will be attending. Online registration and HBS membership is required. The deadline to secure NYU housing will be June 7th.
Flyer including list of participants: click here.
The abstracts for the presentations and the conference schedule (newly updated 7/5) are now available.The HBS has commissioned fanfares for performance at our conferences over the years. For the first time we're making the scores available in
The Great American Brass Band Festival (GABBF) in Danville, Kentucky announces a call for papers and presentations for the 2018 GABBF Brass Symposium. The Brass Symposium, held June 1, 2018, is an educational event that serves as part of the Great American Brass Band Festival, which runs May 31-June 3, 2018.
Presenters who are selected will be offered a $350 stipend plus free lodging on the Centre College campus.
Presentations are typically 25-30 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions. There is no particular format required. Proposals may be academic paper presentations, performance demonstrations, historical lectures, or other formats. Creative or unusual presentation proposals are welcomed and encouraged. (Powerpoint, video and sound playback resources will be available to the presenter.)
The 2018 GABBF theme is "Main Street America" however, papers and presentations for the Brass Symposium are not required to be on this topic. Historically, presentations have been on topics such as brass instruments, brass bands, band history, performance practice, and music history/literature.
Proposals, or questions about proposals, should be sent via email to Jeffrey Barrington at
Conference attendees in the background of an exhibit of brass instruments at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC
On July 13-16th, 2017 nearly 200 early brass enthusiasts participated in the HBS Third International Historic Brass Symposium in three different venues in New York City. Concerts, lectures, discussion sessions and a social event were help at New York University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and St. Luke’s in the Field Church. The scope of the symposium activities ranged from a talk and presentation of copies of ancient brass instruments from Antiquity to the brass music of Iannis Xenakis and a world premiere of a recently commissioned composition for two early brass instruments. Abstracts of the lectures and lecture/performances are listed below. Two senior musicians in the early brass community, Don Smithers and Friedemann Immer were both unable to attend as planned due to health concerns. Many at the symposium sent regards and wishes for speedy recovery.
During the first day of the symposium the presentation of the 2017 HBS Christopher Monk Award to Sabine Klaus took place. Her important brass scholarship was noted. Klaus has recently published the 3rd volume of a proposed 5 volume series on brass instruments, notably reflected on the Utley Collection of which she is the curator. In her presentation Klaus made mention of the four recipients of the Joe and Joella Utley Student Travel Award; April Legatt, Liza Malamut, Jeremy Sexton and Merissa Youngs. This Award given through the generosity of the Utley Foundation offers travel support to young scholars and musicians to attend HBS events. Thanks were extended to Joella Utley who was prevented from attend at the last minute due to a medical issue. The Symposium was attended by 10 past Monk Award recipients and Renato Meucci, Trevor Herbert, Wim Becu, Dan Morgenstern, Arnold Myers, Herbert Heyde, Keith Polk Rainer Egger, and Bruce Dickey joined Sabine Klaus in a group photo. Stew Carter, also a Monk recipient missed the photo op but attended the Symposium later in the week.
As many long-time HBS members have noticed, the range of topics has expanded from primarily Renaissance through classical period topics that were the main focus of early brass interests when the HBS first started. Now early 20th century musical topics, including jazz, are common. In this spirit, in addition to the Hell Fighters session and concert, Trevor Herbert conducted a special session with the noted jazz critic Dan Morgenstern. Morgenstern selected 6 jazz recordings that feature brass and provided a jump-off point for discussion. The recordings were all from the first half of the century and included recordings by Kid Ory, Jack Teagarden, Vic Dickenson, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and the brass section of Duke Ellington’s recording of “Braggin’ in Brass” which featured Rex Steward and Cootie Williams.
Elisa Kohler, Robin Pyle, Ralph Dudgeon
One particularly involved project of the symposium was a discussion session, “Entering the Sound-World of James Reese Europe” led by Trevor Herbert, John Graziano and John Wallace. That session which included discussion about James Reese Europe, his importance as a link between ragtime and early jazz and other musical developments of the turn of the 20th century was followed by an outstanding performance of the rarely performed repertoire of the Harlem Hell Fighters with John Wallace leading a 20-piece period instrument band. In addition to Wallace the star-studded ensemble included many of the leading musicians active today including Allan Dean, Bobby Sanabria, Paquito D’Rivers, Dan Block, Bruce Eidem, Scott Robinson, Frank Hosticka, John Miller, Sam Burtis and many others. Special care was the selection of instruments from the period of approximately 1900 -1920s. Instruments depicted in photographs of Europe and the Harlem Hell Fighters were used as a guide for the instrumentation of the ensemble. Helicons, melophones, small-bore trombones, cornets, period clarinets and even a period drum set were used. In the audience at the Grace Rainey Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were descendants of two key musicians of that era; James Reese Europe III and Noble Sissle Jr.
Two lectures that included extensive performance were Jamie Savan’s talk “New Perspectives on the Venetian Cornett” and Sandy Coffin’s presentation on the cornet soloist Tom Short. Jamie played some early braroque repertoire to demonstrate issues involving pitch and articulation. Sandy beautifully played solos on a period cornet and did some amazing detective work tracing some repertoire to the little known Short.
Cornettist Bruce Dickey and sackbut player Wim Becu presented a brilliant recital at St Luke’s in the Field church with music by Cima, Lasso, Carrozza, Palestrina and Merula. They were ably assisted by organist Avi Stein. Dickey and Becu were among the number of leading musicians who were also at the first HBS International Symposium in 1995. There performance demonstrated why they are still the leading virtuosos on their instruments. On the other end of the age scale, Patrick Wibart tore the house down with his spectacular playing on the ophicleide and serpent assisted by pianist Halter Hilse. They played works by Couperin, Corrette and Ferdinand David. As Wibart’sperformance was on July 14th, Bastille Day, the young French virtuoso played as an encore, his own version of La Marseillaise with spell binding variations on the ophicleide. Michael Collver did double duty performing on cornetto as well as singing. He seamlessly blended back and forth on early Baroque repertoire by Sances, Biber and D’India. He was assisted by Avi Stein on organ and Glorianne Collver on guitar and lute.
Sabine Klaus
Lecture topics and performances were well matched. Cornet and cornett talks were presented as well as outstanding performances. Allan Dean and Mark Ponzo presented a recital of duo works by H. King, Herman Koenig and Herbert L. Clarke played on period cornets from the extensive Ponzo collection. Raquel Rodriguez’s brilliant recital consisted of works by Jules Levy, Vincent Bach, John Hartmann and Herbert L. Clarke. Ralph Dudgeon played a beautiful Polonaise by Baissieres-Faber on the keyed-bugle. All were wonderfully accompanied by pianist Walter Hilse.
As at some past HBS events, a contemporary piece for early brass was commissioned by the HBS. The world premiere of Caduceus Mixtus for serpent and ophicleide by Jaron Lanier was performed on Saturday. Lanier is a composer and performer but most notably know as a celebrated futurist and computer scientist. He has been called by Time magazine as “one of the one hundred most influential thinkers in the world.” Having the contribution of someone with such diverse talents added a dimension to the HBS Symposium not previously attained. The piece was masterfully performed by Douglas Yeo on serpent and Scott Robinson on ophiceide. Robinson also astounded symposium attendees with his amazing high Eb clarinet playing the previous day at the Hell Fighters concert.
On Sunday afternoon the horns had their time to shine. Rick Seraphinoff organized a horn recical and was joined by hornists; Anneke Scott, R.J. Kelley, Ulrich Huebner, Linda Dempf, Celeste Holmes, Tom Hiebert, Bradley Strauchen, Yoni Kahn and Meredith Moore. They performed a wide program of sextets, quartets and solo works by Gallay, Dauprat, Crusell. The entire horn ensemble ended with a rousing fafare de Chasse by Rossini. Nicole Kilkner’s lecture “From Utility to Fancy: Making music with coach horns in Paris, 1880-1910” was aided by Ralph Dudgeon, Elisa Koehler, Robin Pyle, Henry Meredity and Richard Thomas performances of coach horn pieces using period coach horns and cavalry trumpets.
Chris Belluscio and Henry Meredith
Several established ensembles performed at the symposium. It simply wouldn’t be an HBS event without a natural trumpet ensemble and this symposium had the good fortune to have three different trumpet ensembles. The Trumpet Consort von Humboldt under the direction of Gil Cline performed in the Arms and Armour Courtyard at the Met. They played on a set of copies of the 1667 Simon Beale trumpet made by David Edwards as well as the copy of the 1715 John Harris natural trumpet also made by Edwards. In addition to beautifully playing works by Byrd, Dauverne, and several anonymous pieces, the ensemble engaged in some theatrical movement and dance moves. Cline was joined by Chris Cox, Andrew Henderson, Kevin Blake, Charlie McClung, Ryan Blake, and Nicholas Camacho. The University of Kentucky Baroque Trumpet Ensemble was led by Jason Dovel. He was joined by guest soloist John Foster and guest timpanist Ben Harms along with ensemble members Caden Holmes, Drew Burke, Jessica Lambert, Kyle Mitchell, Rhiannon Montgomery, Coleman Scott, Marisa Youngs, Bailey Goff, Jared Wallis, Phillip Chase Hawkins, and Denver Pascua. They played workds by Buhl, Delalande, Altenburg, Bendinelli, Rossini, Monteverdi and a contemporary piece that employed some jazz idioms by Jason Dovel. The Kentucky Baroque Trumpets under the direction of Don Johnson III played works by Kunert, Bendinelli, Alberti and several anonymous pieces. The ensemble consisted of Don Johnson III, Bill Budai, David Davenport, Jason Dovel, John Foster, Chase Hawkins, Jay Martin, Scott Muntefering, and Alan Siebert. In addition to their performance at the Met Museum on the organ loft overlooking the Arms and Armour Courtyard, the Kentucky Baroque Trumpets played the Bendinelli Sonata 332 at the beginning of the Friday evening church concert. This was a tribute to Don Johnson II the founder of the ensemble and long-time HBS supporter who tragically died at a young age in an accident last year.
Monk Award winners, past and present
Also participating were two ensembles that feature 19th century repertoire; Prince Regents Band and Grand Harmonie Brass. The Prince Regents Band traveled from the UK to present a concert that featured the repertoire and instrumentation of the celebrated Distin family. Richard Fomison and Richard Thomas (cornets and alto saxhorns), Anneke Scott (tenor saxhorn), Phil Dale (baritone saxhorn) and Jeff Miller (contrabass saxhorn) played a brilliant program including arrangements of works by Verdi, Berlioz, Fauconnier, Donizetti, Gretry, Handel and Distin. The Grand Harmonie Brass played a wonderful program employing some rather unusual and seldom heard period brass instruments. The ensemble, under the direction of Chris Belluscio performed Divertimentio by Von Neukomm, trumpet duets by Norton, horn trios by Anton Reicha and the Quatre Pas redoubles by Cherubini. The ensemble consisted of Chris Belluscio (English slide trumpet and trompette demilune), Paul Perfetti (English slide trumpet), Yoni Kahn, Linda Dempf, Meredith Morre (natural horns), Liza Malamut (alto trombone), Steve Lundahl (tenor trombone), Motoaki Kashino (bass trombone) and Barry Bocaner (ophicleide and serpent).
As with past HBS Symposia, this event was fortunate to have an instrument maker’s exhibition. Rainer Egger, Dave Maller, Rick Seraphinoff, and Nate Woods were brass makers who displayed their wares and many symposium participants had a chance to try the latest early brass instruments. A number of musicians were also able to sell recent publications and recordings.
I was ably assisted in organizing and presenting this event by Sandy Coffin, Greg Ericson and Bradley Strauchen-Scherer. Words can’t properly express my gratitude to them as well as to the staff members at the Met museum, NYU as well as to David Shuller and the administration at St Luke’s in the Field Church. Our participation at the Metropolitan Museum gave symposium participants the fortunate opportunity to have a sneak preview of a number of brass instruments from the collection that will be on display in the soon to be opened and newly renovated and reorganized musical instrument galleries. Abstract of the talks are presented below
-- Jeffrey Nussbaum
Abstracts from the 2017 Conference
Call For Papers and Performances
Historic Brass Society
International Historic Brass Symposium
July 13-16, 2017
New York University
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musical Instrument Collection
As at the 2012 Symposium in New York, many of the leading early brass performers, scholars, instrument makers, collectors, curators, and educators will be participating in our 2017 HBS International Symposium. Of special note will be the premiere performance of a newly commissioned composition for serpent and ophicleide, a special workshop and period-instrument performance of the music of James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hell Fighters 369th Regimental Band, as well as other performances and many lectures and round-table discussions.
The Historic Brass Society is accepting proposals for period brass instrument performances and early brass lectures. All early brass topics from Antiquity through to the 20th century will be considered. Please submit a one-page proposal for either a performance or lecture. Lectures will be 20 minutes with an additional 10 minute question and discussion period added. Performances typically are 20 minutes to 45 minutes depending upon size and nature of the ensemble. Keyboard accompanists will be available if needed.
Submission Deadlines: November 1, 2016 For Performance Proposals; December 1, 2016 For Paper Proposals
Please send proposals to:
Symposium Program Committee: Stewart Carter, Trevor Herbert, Jeff Nussbaum, Keith Polk, Bradley Strauchen.
The 6th Indiana Sackbut Workshop will pay a visit to Renaissance Naples, a melting pot of Hispano-Italian culture and ideas. We will be touching upon late 15th-century alta-capella repertoire, mid-16th-century improvisation, and the development of extensive chromaticism in the later 16th and early 17th centuries. As always, we will work towards adopting the frame of mind of a Renaissance musician: in addition to lots of playing in small ensembles, there will be sessions on solmization, theory and composition, and musical language, which includes reading from original manuscript and print sources. Of course, we want everyone to challenge themselves on an appropriate level, so modern editions of all the music will also be provided.
As was the case last year, an optional extra day of just sackbuts and dulcians from Tuesday, May 23 at 12 PM to Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM will allow us to explore the more chromatic music from around 1600. The official workshop for sackbuts and early double reeds runs from Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM to Sunday, May 28 at 12 PM at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN.
Here is a link to all pertinent information concerning registration and fees: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/event-registration/?ee=35
If you have any specific questions about the workshop, please feel free to contact Adam Bregman (
The publication of the proceedings of Adolphe Sax, His Influence and Legacy: A Bicentenary Conference has just been announced. The conference held at the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels, was a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great instrument maker and was co-sponsored by the Historic Brass Society. The proceedings will be a special issue of the Revue belge de Musicologie vol.70 (2016). The proceedings can be ordered at the postal address of the Society: Rue de la Régence 30, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium, or via e-mail to Olivia Wahnon
Editor’s note: at the time of this announcement the publication was not yet listed on their website: www.belsocmus.org.
Contents
Billiet, Jeroen, “Adolphe Sax en de conservatoria van Gent en Brussel: de spraakmakende experimenten met koperblazers met onafhankelijke ventielen (1869-1895)”
De Keyser, Ignace, “The Introduction of the Saxophone in Urban music in SubSaharan Africa”
Haine, Malou and Ignace De Keyser, “Le musée instrumental d’un artiste inventeur : la collection privée d’Adolphe Sax”
Haine, Malou, “Hector Berlioz, chantre inconditionnel d’Adolphe Sax”
Haine, Malou, “Un réseau d’influence : les démarches d’Adolphe Sax pour obtenir la croix d’officier de la Légion d’honneur”
Herbert, Trevor, “Adolphe Sax, His Saxhorns and Their International Influence”
Howe, Robert, “Adolphe Sax: Myths Noted and Debunked. Sax’s Brass Instrument Markings. The “Orchestral” Saxophones. Ophicleide-shaped Saxophones”
Péronnet, Patrick, “Saxons et Carafons : Adolphe Sax et le Gymnase musical militaire, un conflit d’esthétique”
Postma, Marten, “‘Le cône parabolique’? een onderzoek naar de boringsprofielen van Sax’ instrumenten"
Rice, Albert R., "The bass clarinets of Adolphe Sax: his influence and legacy”
Strauchen-Scherer, E. Bradley, “Museum piece: Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown and the instruments of the Sax family at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”
von Steiger, Adrian, “Sax Figures: Can We Deduce Details of Adolphe Sax’s Instrument Production from the Sources?”
Wahnon de Oliveira, Olivia, “De l’intérêt de Fétis pour les instruments Sax à la création de la classe de saxophone (1867) au Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles”
8/3: The Great American Brass Band Festival (GABBF) in Danville, Kentucky announces a call for papers and presentations for the 2017 GABBF Brass Symposium. The Brass Symposium will be June 2, 2017, an educational event that serves as part of the Great American Brass Band Festival, which runs June 1-4, 2017.
Presenters who are selected will be offered a $350 stipend plus free lodging on the Centre College campus.
Presentations are typically 25-30 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions. There is no particular format required. Proposals may be academic paper presentations, performance demonstrations, historical lectures, or other formats. Creative or unusual presentation proposals are welcomed and encouraged. (Powerpoint, video and sound playback resources will be available to the presenter.)
The 2017 GABBF theme is "The Roaring Twenties," however, papers and presentations for the Brass Symposium are not required to be on this topic. Historically, presentations have been on topics such as brass instruments, brass bands, band history, performance practice, and music history/literature.
Proposals, or questions about proposals, should be sent via email to Jason Dovel at Jason.Dovel -at- uky.edu. If large files need to be sent, a Dropbox link is preferred.
Proposals must be received by November 1, 2016.
For more information, please visit: http://www.gabbf.org/festival/education/brass-symposium/
4/14 - The HBS learned of Paul Bierley's passing this past week. He was great scholar to whom all musicologists interested in band music are forever indebted. Trevor Herbert has written an eloquent obituary for him as follows:
I never met Paul Bierley, but it feels as if I did. We corresponded and chatted two or three times on transatlantic phone calls. He was always courteous, modest and generous. He usually wanted to know what I was working on. I took this as evidence of his generosity, but I also concluded that his inquiries were genuine – he was insatiably curious and as we all know, curiosity is the nourishment of research. Without curiosity the urge to inquire fades and eventually vanishes. Paul never stopped inquiring.
He died in a retirement home overlooking the Scioto River on 9 April at the age of 90. He was a man of Ohio: born in Portsmouth, he lived the greatest part of his life in Westerville. In the later years of the Second World War he served as a bandsman and radio operator/gunner in the US Army Air Corps. After military service he spent his entire professional life as a design and product engineer and was highly respected in that field, but beyond his commitments to his close family his interests were absorbed by music. He played in or conducted bands and orchestras throughout his life. He was also of course a tireless researcher: he founded his own publishing firm (Integrity Press) and published on the life and work of Henry Fillmore, but he will be remembered primarily for his work on John Philip Sousa.
No one could accuse Paul of total objectivity when it came to Sousa, but it was his industry that led to the definitive chronicle of the life and work of one of the first global superstars of music. The first of his books, John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon, was published in 1973, and I reviewed his final book, The Incredible Band of John Philip Sousa, just a few years ago. Both are packed with verified detail, and they will remain essential texts for anyone with a serious or passing interest in Sousa or indeed in the roots of American music culture.
He was the recipient of many honours and awards – each of them richly deserved.
[Editor's note: a tribute written to commemorate the honorary doctorate he received from Ohio State is available by clicking here.]4/13 - Scholars associated with the European Music Archeology Project (EMAP) have been in the news lately. For those that don't know, the project seeks to recreate ancient music - in the brass world that means Greek and Roman instruments, among others. A conference was held in Italy in 2015, in part sponsored by the HBS. For further information, feel free to peruse the links below.
New York Times article on EMAP
A document with further information on the instruments demonstrated in the above video
3/17 - We are happy to announce that the 2016 recipient of the Historic Brass Society's Christopher Monk Award will be the noted organologist, curator, and instrument collector Jeremy Montagu. Montagu is the author of many important studies of musical instruments including Horns and Trumpets of the World, Musical Instruments of the Bible, The Horn, Timpani and Percussion, Origins and Development of Musical Instruments and many others. He is the current president of the Galpin Society and past curator of the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments at Oxford University. Jeremy has also emmassed one of the great private collections of musical instruments, including a wide range of brasswinds. His outstanding works as a writer and curator has made significant and lasting contributions to the understanding of historic brass instruments and their music. Jeremy Montagu will be presented with the Christopher Monk Award on June 25 at the Galpin Society Meeting held at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK.
The 5th Indiana Sackbut Workshop will be continuing a study of German wind band or "Stadtpfeiffer" repertoire from the fall, focusing on the 16th and 17th centuries. The main goal of the workshop, through the sources which we shall be exploring, is to become fluent purveyors of late medieval and early Renaissance music in its own language, and skilled and informed practitioners of the instruments and the historical performance practices involved. Our goal will be to play all of the repertoire in its original manuscript or print form, either becoming acquainted with this for the first time, or furthering our knowledge and fluency in it. But since we do not want to discourage anyone from attending the workshop, modern editions will be provided for all of the selections to help us out along the way.
We have a new, slightly more flexible set of dates this time around. The main workshop with sackbuts, dulcians and shawms will remain as advertised on the website as from Wednesday, May 4th at 5 PM to Sunday, May 8th at 1 PM at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN. There is, however, the option of arriving on Tuesday, May 3rd at 5 PM for one day of sackbut and dulcian ensemble playing. We will be specifically exploring this combination of instruments, experimenting with what early 17th-century theorist and composer Michael Praetorius elucidates on the subject.
If you plan on participating in the extra day (beginning on May 3rd), this will be an available option on the Early Music in Motion website that you will have to register for separately from the main workshop. Here is a link to all pertinent information concerning registration and fees: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/event-registration/?ee=12
If you have any specific questions about the workshop, please feel free to contact Adam Bregman (
3/2 - Mike Diprose will be conducting a special course in Arosa, Switzerland on August 7-13, 2016. The course has been expanded to include an entire orchestra - strings, woodwinds, trumpets with timpani and plucked instruments – all playing only equipment that we know was in general use in the early 18th century.
One side of the re-assimilation of historical brass instruments into Historically-informed Performance Practice is the technical challenge for trumpeters. Nowadays, when they play in ensemble with other musicians, it can be perhaps even more daunting for all involved. Does it really need to be that difficult? What were those dumb composers thinking? Or could we reassess the interpretation of their work and its context? This course is designed to help bring us closer to an understanding of the composers' sound-world and expectations. Rather than post-modernising all the instruments, our course re-approaches the repertoire by applying solutions from historical sources to the equipment for which it was written. This is a resonant experience for everybody, with and without brass.
For further information: http://musikkurswochen.ch/kurse/detail/247
1/14 - We have received correspondence from Edward H. Tarr on some interesting new information that he wished to share with our members. The letter is as follows:
Dear Friends
A Russian historian has recently discovered how the cornetist Oskar Böhme came to an end. In a chapter about Böhme in my book East Meets West I had written: “The exact date and the circumstances of his death will probably never be known.” In the wake of Stalin’s “Great Terror” (1928-54) more than four million people were deported and/or executed. Especially after Central Committee Secretary Sergey M. Kirov had been assassinated on December 1, 1934, Stalin initiated a great series of purges of artists and scientists, also banishing many persons of German origin, including Böhme, to distant places. Böhme was arrested on April 13, 1935 because of supposed – i.e. trumped-up – anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation and sentenced to three years of banishment from St. Petersburg to Orenburg (Stalinist name: Chkalov), a traditionally German city at the foot of the southern Ural mountains. Until 1938 he was teaching at a music school there, without the right of correspondence. Historian Anatoly Jakovlevich Rasumov, with access to the KGB archive, has since 1995 been publishing the names and short biographies of those who were assassinated by Stalin’s henchmen; his Leningrad Martyrologium has reached 14 volumes so far. He has discovered that in October 1938 (probably on the 23rd) Oskar Böhme was shot. See Christian Neef, “Archivar des Terrors”, Der Spiegel 53 (December 2015), 94-97, here 96.
With best wishes,
Edward H. Tarr
10/29 - Details for the 2016 Barclay/Seraphinoff natrual trumpet building workshop held in Bloomington, Indiana, have been announced. The course will be held in August. For further information visit http://www.seraphinoff.com/itw/content.php?p=naw. The workshop has been held annually for many years and participants, including a number of HBS members, can testify that the course is not only educational, musical, and historical, but also a great deal of fun and a wonderful opportunity to make friends in the discipline!
3/23 - Preparations are underway for the annual HBS conference: the 2016 Early Brass Festival. It will be held in conjunction with the Vintage Band Festival on July 28–31 in Northfield, Minnesota. Updates will be posted here periodically. If you wish to submit a proposal to present, please do so by emailing your abstract to Jeff Nussbaum (
Other Documents and Links
Registration Form with Housing Information
The Vintage Band Festival website
10/18 - Mr. Donald Ray Johnson, Jr, age 61 of Raywick, KY, passed away Friday, October 14, 2016 in Bradfordsville, KY. He was born on July 24, 1955 in Lexington, KY. Mr. Johnson was a musician and a retired Captain of the Lexington Fire Department. He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald Ray Johnson, Sr. and Iris Jeannine Vanwinkle Johnson, and his sister Karen Faye Shupp. He is survived by his wife Cindy Oakman Johnson--Raywick, KY, his son Donald Ray Johnson III--Cincinnati, OH, his daughter: Marie Ann Colletti--Brooklynn, NY, his brother Steven Lee Johnson--Paris, KY, three step-brothers David Wilds--Three links, KY, Joseph Wilds--Irvine, KY, Paul Wilds, and his sister Michelle Wilds--Hazard, KY.
A noted figure in historical brass performance, Don founded and led the Kentucky Baroque Trumpets. He organized and led President Lincoln's Own Band, a group featured in Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln (2012). When the crowd sings "We Are Coming Father Abraham" in that movie it is his cornet playing that you hear. An active figure in historical bands in Kentucky, Johnson played in the Advocate Brass Band, Danville, Kentucky for a number of years and was frequently heard on stage at the Great American Brass Band Festival. He also frequented our annual HBS Brass Symposiua, including this past year at the Vintage Band Festival in Northfield, Minnesota, presenting on the keyed trumpet. We will always remember Don as a humble scholar, an energetic, passionate, and enthusiastic performer, and a person who has left us a legacy of wonderful recordings and insights into historical trumpet and cornet performance. For information on his recordings and life see http://kybaroquetrumpets.com/.
Steven Plank and Bryan Proksch
