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WGI Archives - Minnesota Brass

2023 Winter Recap – Thank You Donors!

By | Indoor Drumline, MBI Winterguard, Winds | One Comment

MBI Winter Guard

The season kicked off with a bang at the Premiere show when MBI performers came onto the floor veiled in yellow raincoats. They took them off to reveal a full Pennywise costume from IT. The theme was hugely popular, and the guard produced a “Who is IT?” post to showcase performers who you wouldn’t otherwise recognize in their costumes & makeup. MBI Winter Guard finished 19th in Independent Open at Dayton, Ohio.

Guard Donors

  • Margaret Mattson
  • Kathy & Jeff Lovgren
  • Eric Lovgren
  • Ultimate Sports Bar
  • Tiffany Bornetun
  • Many more anonymous donors

MBI Indoor Percussion

Celebrating its 15th year in 2023, MBI Indoor Percussion competed both locally and nationally. The season culminated with MBI being a WGI Semi-Finalist in Dayton, OH and placing 17th in Percussion Independent World (PIW) competition – MBI’s highest placement in a decade. The 2023 production was titled “Fade to Black” and featured the ensemble fading in and out of both visual and musical textures ending as the members literally fading away and disappearing into the all-black set pieces. “Hang my head, drown my fear, til they all just disappear.” This lyrics were heard in the last moments of the show as MBI played “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden.

Percussion Donors

  • Hiawatha Academy
  • Rob Magnuson
  • Joe and Dani Jaeger
  • Larry and Rosanne Tollefson
  • Lynette Fitzsimonds and Jenny Kilgin
  • Kurt “Flash” Schiebel and Andrea Ferguson
  • Bradley kovacovich
  • Griswold Family
  • Naomi Harju
  • Mark Schmid and Sandy Dennis
  • Thomas Peterson
  • Melisa Riel
  • Kim and Scott Myrdahl
  • Ed and Kristiina Terhaar
  • Inga Borggreve
  • Anan Kohn
  • Barry and Heather Tait
  • Troy Jilot
  • Carol Kindya
  • Amy and Rob Takkunen
  • Jennifer Hanna-Tatur and James Hanna
  • Leonard and Judith Heimerl
  • Many more anonymous donors

MBI Winds

“Hello!” was the perfect introduction for the debut of our new WGI Winds ensemble. 20 talented horn players came together to create a vibrant program that entertained audiences. The initial season definitely opened new doors for the growing WGI Winds class, especially at home in Minnesota. MBI Winds finished in 4th place in Independent Open in Dayton, Ohio.

Winds Donors

  • Beth & Paul Gundersen
  • Mary & Don Carlsen
  • Kristina Sorteberg
  • Asher, Trevor, and Tiffany Kraabel
  • Dave & Katie Alfveby
  • Barry Hess
  • Many more anonymous donors

Thank you

Thanks again to all who donated to our winter ensembles. Minnesota Brass is committed to providing a quality performance experience to our members while trying to reduce costs as much as possible. We couldn’t do it without you!

MBI Winter Guard Places 10th at WGI World Championships

By | MBI Winterguard | No Comments

The MBI Winter Guard wrapped up their 2016 season with a stellar performance at the WGI Independent A Class World Championships in Dayton, Ohio Saturday placing 10th with a final score of 87.615.  Competition began Thursday with 70 units.  “I’m so very proud of what the guard accomplished this year,” said Minnesota Brass executive director Eric Molho.  “The members and staff had a phenomenal season and earned a great honor as a top-ten finalist in national competition.”  Other Minnesota finalists at WGI competition included Elk River High School (5th place in Scholastic A Class competition) and Eden Prairie High School (19th place in Scholastic Open Class competition).

Auditions for the Minnesota Brass drum and bugle corps color guard are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening, April 20 at Brooklyn Center High School  See our Quick Guide for more information.

MBI Winter Guard Advances to WGI Finals!

By | MBI Winterguard | No Comments

“It was an absolutely stellar performance” said MBI Winter Guard co-director, Wil Furnstahl about the guard’s semi-final execution at Wright State University’s Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio on Friday afternoon.  The guard was seeded 16th after their preliminary performance in WGI Independent A Class competition.  Their semi-finals score of 88.15 compelled the corps to the number 9 position as they head into finals on Saturday morning.  The MBI Winter Guard will take the floor at 10:38 EST for finals.   70 units began competition on Thursday to determine the twenty finalists that will compete at Finals.

This year the MBI Winter Guard explores our obsession with technology and personal devices.  Their 2016 production, Auto-Correcting Society, challenges viewers to put down their phones and reconnect IRL (in real life).  Fans and friends may still want to grab their phones to see the guard’s latest updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  In addition, live video will broadcoast throughout the morning using the periscope app (follow:  minnesotabrass).

MBI Winter Guard is one of six North Star Circuit units competing this weekend in Dayton at the WGI Color Guard World Championships.  Lux Independent, Eclipse Independent, Elk River HS, Irondale HS and Eden Prairie HS also participated in preliminary competition Thursday with Elk River and Eden Prairie advancing to semi-finals.  As this article was published, Elk River had also advanced to finals and will perform at 3:07 p.m. (EST) Saturday.  (Eden Prairie’s results will be known late on Friday evening.)

 

Live on Your Mobile Device: MBI Winter Guard

By | MBI Winterguard | No Comments

We get the irony.  We really want you to tune into your smart phones today to watch our incredible show lamenting how our online society can reduce human interaction.  MBI Winter Guard’s 2016 production, Auto-Correcting Society takes the floor at the WGI St. Louis Regional this afternoon and will be on your phone live!

icon175x175Here’s how it works.  We’ll be using Periscope this afternoon and evening to broadcast the MBI Winter Guard’s performance.  Periscope is a Twitter product, so you’ll need to make sure you’re following us there (if you haven’t already).   Next, download the free Periscope app if you don’t already have it on your phone.  Once you sign in via Twitter, it will automatically let you know when we’re streaming live from St. Louis!  The Winter Guard’s prelims performance is scheduled for 3:106p.m. CST.  Finals competitions for Independent A Class begin at 8:44.  As an added bonus, Periscope videos stick around for 24 hours post-performance, so you can watch again, and again.

Then put your phone away and connect with someone IRL.

Sounds of Minnesota Winter Edition in S. St. Paul Saturday

By | MBI Winterguard | No Comments

The curtain is ready to rise on the 2016 MBI Winter Guard performance season as the ensemble hosts Sounds of Minnesota Winter Edition this Saturday, Feb. 6, at South St. Paul High School.

The event is expected to feature 14 units from around the region competing in six classes. Showtime is 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6.

MBI Winter Guard—whose 2016 show is titled “Auto-Correcting Society”—placed first last weekend in the Independent A Class at the North Star Circuit’s annual season-opening Scholarship Show in Mendota Heights. “MBIWG had a strong start to the season at the Scholarship Show,” said director Wil Furnstahl. “The performance was well received by both audience and judges.”

The group has been an Independent A Class unit since 2011, when they were moved up to Open Class after their performance at the Indianapolis Power Regional resulted in an 11th place finish at the WGI World Championships event. MBI Winter Guard is a consecutive two time WGI Independent Open Class Finalist and the 2012 Kansas City Regional Independent Open class champion.

The 16-member MBI Winter Guard is co-directed by Furnstahl and Emily Merriman for their sixth consecutive season and a staff that includes returning members Jessi Foell, Jon Su and Mary Stennes. New staff members include Jared Peterson, Aaron Shaleen, Rachel Graack, Becci O’Kane and Dani Lovitz.

Sounds of Minnesota Winter Edition
When: 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 6
Where: South St. Paul High School, 700 2nd St. N., South St Paul, MN 55075
Admission: $8-$6. All seats are general admission and available at the door.