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2019 Archives - Minnesota Brass

A tip of the shako to sponsors, fans and volunteers

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As Minnesota Brass puts the lid on a highly successful 2019 season – finishing second at the DCI SoundSport International Music & Food Festival in Indianapolis in August – the organization would like to thank its sponsors for the support.

Several events and other opportunities materialize annually making a successful season a challenge every year – and 2019 was no exception. From presenting Drum Corps International contests in Menomonie, Wis., and Farmington, Minn., to funding new instruments and covering travel expenses, our sponsors, committed fans and indispensable volunteers continue to keep the organization moving forward.

So here’s a special salute to those sponsors who made 2019 an exceptional year:

Annual Meeting: October 7

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The Minnesota Brass Board of Directors has set the annual meeting for the corporation at 7 p.m. on Monday, October 7. The meeting will be held at the offices of Olsen Theilin (2675 Long Lake Road, Roseville, MN 55113-1117).

The agenda for the meeting includes proposals to update the oganization’s bylaws, review the organization’s finances and elect new board members. The meeting is open to all and voting is open to corporate members. (Generally speaking, corporate members include the staff, volunteers and performers of a Minnesota Brass performing ensemble.)

The proposed changes to the organization’s bylaws are available online. 

The following individuals have been nominated by the board to serve on the board of directors. Cindy Bach (long time brass performer and former board member); Amanda Posten (former percussion performing and staff member); and David Whitaker (long time administrative team member and former brass performer). Per the bylaws, the membership must ratify all new board members and will vote to do so at the Annual Meeting. Full bios of nominated board members are below.

Cindy Bach

Cindy’s involvement with MBI spans five decades beginning with her first year as a baritone player in 1975 and including 2019 as a parade corps mellophone. Her musical involvement has had her performing on baritone, mellophone, trumpet, as well as a brief stint in the color guard.  She has served countless leadership roles for MBI through her years of service.  She unofficially retired from performing in 2016, but she returned to the corps of 2018.

Cindy is a licensed interior designer/project manager and has designed healthcare clinics and hospitals, retail establishments, and corporate environments. She brings a skill set of new business development, a wide variety of network contacts throughout the design industry, and a desire to see the corps thrive in a performing arts environment that is rapidly changing. Cindy is a quiet, often overlooked, but powerful champion for MBI.

Amanda Posten
Amanda graduated South Saint Paul High School after marching 2009-2012 in their winter drumline. Her experience with MBI started in 2011 with the winter drumline. She marched the summers of 2013, 2015, and 2017 on Mellophone, 2014 in the front ensemble, and aged out in 2016 with the winter drumline. Previously, she taught Andover High School Marching Band and Grove Area Percussion Winter Drumline. She’s very excited to step into a new role for Minnesota Brass and the Minnesota marching community!

Dave Whitaker
Dave first joined MBI in 1990 in the Baritone section, sharing a spot with Cindy Bach (also nominated for a board term). Since then, Dave was a performing member for six scattered years, a member of the visual staff, and performed other administrative and technical roles. His  previous leadership with the organization includes serving on the board, as member and chair, for 15+ years, and as a part of the executive team for the past 10+ years. Dave is excited to return to the board to share his experience, and to ensure a secure future for the organization.

 

Drummin Fun Pic Here

As the parade passes by

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Minnesota Brass alumni and friends performed Sunday, August 25 at the Minnesota State Fair parade. The performance involved over 50 alumni and staff who gathered for the great Minnesota get together. Organized by passionate alumni, the performance unit featured brass, percussion and color guard members. Staff included: Mark Santori, Rick Rueckert and Shannon Pierce for the brass caption; Nick Moreno and Robb Muller for percussion and Heather Moreno for color guard. Special thanks to Jim Duggan for conceiving of this fantastic opportunity and bringing it to life!

If you missed the alumni corps last Sunday, don’t worry! A second performance is already scheduled for Sunday, September 1. The State Fair Parade begins at 2 p.m. daily. The parade features the Minnesota Brass alumni corps, floats, animals, specialty units and visiting royalty. The 14-block parade route begins near the Haunted House, goes north on Cosgrove Street, west on Randall Avenue, and south on Underwood Street ending just south of the Haunted House. Parade units are announced at the Leinie Lodge Bandshell and the east side of the Family Fair Stage at Baldwin Park (ASL-interpreted at Baldwin Park). The High School Marching Band Competition is proudly sponsored by McDonald’s.

Minnesota Brass Returns to Soundsport in 2019

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On Tuesday May 21 the Minnesota Brass board of directors decided to compete in DCI’s Soundsport instead of DCA for the 2019 Season.

The reasons for this are:

To create a performance venue whereby smaller groups can sound fuller.
Increase the quality by having a shorter performance length.
Foster creativity for the design by incorporating more of a winter approach.
Increase and maintain membership by reducing the schedule and financial commitment.
To avoid Labor Day weekend to encourage less competition with College and High School bands.

Our goal is to include everyone that has expressed interest and hopefully a few more individuals who can now be a part of an ensemble with more reasonable demands. We would like to perform with a hornline, battery, front line and guard. Our goal is also to continue with the same show for this summer to utilize our winter learning. The corps will continue to perform in parades and other DCI/DCA shows this summer but we will end our season at the DCI championships in Indianapolis on the weekend of August 9-11. This is similar to what the corps did for many years where we ended at DCM rather than continuing to DCA.

We will produce an updated schedule and dues commitment this week and plan on having our next rehearsal at the next camp on June 7.   Katy Matuzak will serve as director of the organization and Joel Matuzak will lead the creative team.

Town Hall Meeting Saturday, April 27

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To our Minnesota Brass Family and Friends:

You are invited to attend an important Town Hall meeting for all Minnesota Brass stakeholders on Saturday, April 27 at Northdale Middle School. Lunch at 12 p.m. with conversation to follow beginning at 12:45 p.m.

The 2019 summer drum corps season is fast approaching. These are exciting times for Minnesota Brass as we hope to return to the field this year. But they also are challenging times. And we need your help.

The winter ensembles – MBI Indoor Percussion and MBI Winter Guard have just ended successful seasons with exemplary performances at the WGI Championships in Ohio. The future of the larger organization looks healthy.

And while everyone is hopeful the summer program will be equally successful, we face considerable frustrations. Turnout of potential performers at winter rehearsals has been disappointingly limited. And the ranks of our hard-working volunteer and support staffs have continued to dwindle. Frankly, it is unclear just where the level of support for the summer program stands.

On Saturday, April 27, the MBI Board of Directors is meeting to discuss – among many important issues – the prospects for the 2019 summer program. This meeting will be held in conjunction with a daylong full-corps rehearsal camp at Northdale Middle School (11301 Dogwood St. NW, Coon Rapids, Minn.). You are invited to visit camp and participate in a Town Hall meeting to discuss plans for the summer. The board invites your attendance to provide input and offer possible action plans before making any decision about 2019. We hope to hear from you.

Please consider joining us for this important meeting. Your insight is valuable and needed, and your continued support is greatly appreciated. As an added incentive, you are invited to join the corps for lunch!

Minnesota Brass Town Hall
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Lunch at 12 p.m.
Town Hall to follow at 12:45 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Northdale Middle School, 11301 Dogwood St. NW, Coon Rapids, MN

If you can’t make the meeting, but wish to contribute your ideas to the discussion, please send them to eric @ mnbrass.org