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Drum & Bugle Corps

Sounds of Minnesota finds a new home

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Our 2014 DCA competitive season has kicked into high gear after a solid performance at the Kiltie Klassic in Racine, WI. Next up is our season finale competitive performance in the Twin Cities at Sounds of Minnesota on Friday, August 15th at 7:00PM. This year the show has moved to a beautiful new venue – St. Thomas Academy High School in Mendota Heights. Come out and give us a strong send off to the DCA Championships and watch this fun line-up of all-age corps and ensembles:

  • Brio Brass – Minneapolis, MN
  • Chops, Inc. – Minneapolis, MN
  • Govenaires – St. Peter, MN
  • Kilties – Racine, WI
  • Minne-Brass
  • Minnesota Brass

On Saturday, August 16th we perform with the same line-up in St. Peter at the Govenaires’ home show – Drum Corps Expo.

Minnesota Brass salutes alumni at DCI finals

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Nick Soden performs with the Blue Knights. (Credit: Billy Soden)

Nick Soden (right) performs with the Blue Knights. (Credit: Billy Soden)

As the 2014 Drum Corps International World Championships get underway, Minnesota Brass would like to recognize our alumni who perform in the corps competing this week in Indianapolis. They include:

Alex Cary – Troopers
Matthew Coke – Colts
Bryan DeHerder – Madison Scouts
Ryan Denny – Colts
Keegan Greene – Madison Scouts
Cole Hanton – Colts
Dani Lovitz– Blue Stars
Joseph Mauer – Blue Stars
Aaron Martin – Colts
Shawn Muench – Phantom Regiment
Nick Soden – Blue Knights

Also a special shout-out to Emily Kahlow, whose season with the Colts ended recently due to a broken foot.

These young men and women have applied what they learned in Minnesota Brass and other marching ensembles and taken it to another stage. The best part is that when they age out of DCI, they can still perform with Minnesota Brass.

We wish them the best of luck in Indianapolis.

View from the road: Follow a Minnesota Brass member on tour

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Mät Iberg and his seat mate for the trip, Katy Hammond.

Mät Iberg and his seat mate for the trip, Katy Hammond.

What a weekend for Minnesota Brass. The corps returned late Sunday afternoon from a whirlwind tour of the Upper Midwest that included a show Friday night in Forest City, Iowa; a competition Saturday night in Racine, Wis.; and a parade Sunday afternoon in Red Wing, Minn. We asked tuba player Mät Iberg to tweet about these incredible three days, which found him sharing the field with his former drum and bugle corps, the Spartans of Nashua, N.H. Here’s what he had to share:

Minnesota Brass hits the road for regional tour

By | Drum & Bugle Corps | 4 Comments
The Minnesota Brass hornline marches in for a recent performance.

The Minnesota Brass hornline marches in for a recent performance.

Fresh off of its exhibition performance Wednesday night in front of a hometown crowd in St. Paul, Minnesota Brass is getting ready to hit the road. This might be an all-ages corps but members are getting a taste of the junior-corps lifestyle this weekend as they head out on a regional tour that takes them to three states in three days.

First up is Friday night’s North Iowa Festival of Brass in Forest City, Iowa. After a three-hour drive from the Twin Cities, the corps will spend the day rehearsing at Forest City High School, the site of the show. This is another DCI Open Class competition, where Minnesota Brass will perform along with the same lineup from Wednesday night in St. Paul – including Blue Devils B, Colt Cadets and Music City.

Saturday morning begins with a rehearsal block in Forest City before the corps makes the six-hour trek to Racine, Wis., for that night’s Kiltie Klassic Invitational. This – finally – will be Minnesota Brass’ first DCA show of the 2014 season, with a lineup that includes Chops Inc., Cincinnati Tradition, the Govenaires and , of course, the Kilties. The Racine show marks Minnesota Brass’ latest seasonal DCA debut since 2006.

Sunday finds the corps back in Minnesota – after an overnight stay in Madison, Wis. — for the city of Red Wing’s River City Days parade. Then it’s back home in the Twin Cities by late Sunday afternoon.

The corps will have traveled about 1,000 miles by the end of the weekend. More importantly, it will have entertained audiences for the first time (Forest City) or for the first time in many years (Red Wing).

“We’re excited to be part of these new shows and perform in front of new fans in Iowa and Minnesota,” said Eric Molho, director of Minnesota Brass. “Plus we’ll get our first read by DCA judges in Racine. We’re looking forward to a fantastic, but busy, weekend.”

Minnesota Brass alumni help celebrate Blue Stars’ 50th

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Minnesota Brass alumni who helped celebrate the Blue Stars 50th anniversary (many also Blue Stars alumni) included, from left, Bryan Borg, Jesse Talbot, Dave Figge, Andy Kuula, Judy Glewwe, Rick Rueckert, Jim Duggan, Kathy Nieters, Penny Pray and Dave Stolson.

Two venerable Midwestern drum-corps families came together recently when about a dozen alumni of Minnesota Brass helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Blue Stars. They performed along with Blue Stars alumni from every year of the Wisconsin corps’ storied history and its current members in front of a hometown audience, part of the big DCI show on July 12 in La Crosse.

Judy Glewwe, who marched with the Blue Stars in 1980 and 1981, explained why she had to be on the field that magical night.

“Drum corps has been a big part of my life and has helped shape who I am today,” said Glewwe, who was known as “Judy Blue Star” when she later marched with Minnesota Brass. “There was never any question of if I should march with the Blue Stars Alumni. I just knew I wanted to do it without pausing to think about it too much.”

She added: “I feel like I am part of two big families — both Minnesota Brass and Blue Stars mean the world to me. Drum corps is a part of who I am, and it always will be. …  With drum corps people, there is always a sense of belonging and being part of something big and important. Drum corps members are hard workers, fun and non-judgmental. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

If you missed the performance of the Blue Stars 50th Anniversary Alumni Corps, you can relive it through this YouTube video: