Mark Santori
Minnesota Brass has honored Mark Santori, a longtime member of its brass staff, as this year’s recipient of the Brassy, the corps’ lifetime achievement award.
“It’s hard to put into words what winning the Brassy means to me,” Mark said about winning the corps’ highest honor. “The names on the trophy are the giants of Minnesota Brass, people who devoted much time and passion to the corps, and their contributions are quite extraordinary. I have certainly given a lot of time over my 21 seasons of involvement, but I have never considered my efforts to be extraordinary; I was just doing my job. I am humbly grateful that the past Brassy winners decided to invite me into their exclusive club, and I am truly honored.”
Mark joined Minnesota Brass as a baritone player in 1992, when he was studying music education at the University of Minnesota. He played in other sections of the hornline or taught on the horn staff in most of the following years, before joining the staff permanently in 2009. When he’s not with Minnesota Brass, Mark teaches elementary band in the Twin Cities’ south-suburban Independent School District 196.
Mark received his award Friday night at Minnesota Brass’ end-of-season banquet. Here are the other awards that were announced at the annual event:
Color guard caption awards
Rookie of the year: Carissa Phelps
Most improved: Kiersten Sloneker
Member of the year: Jonathan Su
Visual caption awards
Rookie of the year: Kevin Lindorfer
Most improved: Sam Dobs
Member of the year: Andy Campbell
Hornline caption awards
Rookie of the year: Jessa Hohnstein
Most improved: Mimmie Sjoberg
Member of the year: Eric Crawford
Percussion caption awards
Rookie of the year: James Schuster
Most improved: Emily Ruetz
Member of the year: Joe Asleson
Lou Raitch Spirit of MBI Award: Katy Bensen
Caliguiri Award: Dennis Tischhauser
Director’s Appreciation Award: Howie Mogil
This year’s Brassy winner, Mark Santori, center, is shown with some of the previous recipients of the corps’ lifetime achievement award, from left: Matt Kettelhut, Gavin Burnham, Joel Matuzak, Sherry Duggan, Eric Molho, Dick Maki, Kathy Burnham, Tom Jones, Rick Stephenson, Gwynne Byrne, Al Jensen, Susan Fisher, Paul Mordorski, Kurt Schiebel, Shirley Munz, Jodi Pawlenty and David Whitaker. (Photo: Gopher Photo)
