Big Sound, Small Budget
BRITISH BRASS BAND PLAYS FOR LOVE, NOT MONEY
Friday, November 13, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE — It’s a big sound with a tiny budget: The musicians that make up the Ozark Mountains British Brass Band play everything from cornet to tuba, all of them - even conductor Daniel Hodge - without remuneration.
Some of them even pay to play.
“Although many of the instruments are provided by the band, there are some individuals who have made a substantial fi nancial commitment through purchasing their own instrument,” says Jo Schwader, president of the group. “You need only to look up the cost of a professional line tuba to see how substantial I am talking about !”
But the musicians do what they do for love, not money.
“It is a unique group of folks not only because of the brass band instrumentation, but because of the tremendous commitment by each of the individuals,” Schwader says. “We have several area music educators from both secondary and higher education institutions, University of Arkansas music majors, a couple of advanced high school band students, financial analysts, sales managers, a retired banker/economist, a computer networker, an optometrist ...”
Brass bands date from the 1830s and were popular in the United States until the 1860s, according to Schwader.
The Ozark Mountains British Brass Band was established in 1995 by Tom Raber and Clay McCartney, both of whom had retired to Northwest Arkansas and missed the brass bands in which they had performed. Theirs was an idea ahead of its time: The style has made a resurgence, and more and moreBritish-style brass bands have been born in the United States since then.
“The band performs a large variety of music,” Schwader says. “We play original works for brass band, orchestra transcriptions, arrangements from other wind repertoire - and this includes a variety of styles of music: classical (which includesRenaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century art music), jazz (primarily in the big band sub-style), patriotic, Broadway and fi lm music.
“Our upcoming concert at the ACO will be an Americana concert that will include a tribute to those who have served our country through the military,” she adds.
Entertainment, Pages 14 on 11/13/2009
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