As the first official engagement of 2015, the New York Staff Band (NYSB) ventured to southern New Jersey for the annual Mid-Atlantic Brass Band festival at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey – the NYSB would be featured as the special guests for the weekend. Hosted by the Atlantic Brass Band, a perennial North American Brass Band Championship section band, up to six visiting bands were to take part in the festivities, also competing and performing at the upcoming NABBA competition later in March. The weekend promised to provide a blizzard of brass banding opportunities for all who attended.

The NYSB would have multiple roles and responsibilities to fill over the weekend, as there would be a series of masterclasses and instructional sessions throughout Saturday and Sunday, in addition to a full concert by the band.

As the band arrived around 10:30 AM on Saturday, a series of one-hour masterclasses were held in various rooms throughout the building – displaying comfort and great versatility, even in such a clinical setting. Select NYSB bandsmen would provide insight and instruction on their respective instruments. Many local students and members of other visiting bands attended these sessions. The instruments featured for these masterclasses included Soprano Cornet, Cornet, Flugel Horn, Tenor Horn, Baritone, Trombone, Euphonium, Tuba and Percussion.

Shortly after individual instrumental clinics, the full band gathered on stage to offer a 30 minute demonstration session, with Deputy Bandmaster Gordon Ward leading and presenting. During this period, the band would display an eclectic array of sounds – meant to welcome and enlighten listeners to the British brass banding traditional sound and style. Many of the brass bands in the U.S. still utilize various instrumental makeups, unfamiliar with the Bb and Eb Tuba sounds and tenor horn capabilities. This session also delved into sectional sound and emphasized the various bright and dark/mellow mingling within a brass band. Immediately following the ‘sound’ demonstration, the NYSB’s resident composer (Dr. Dorothy Gates) began a 30 minute inspirational session on compositional techniques and tendencies. Her personal story was interwoven between early works and impactful instances, through which a lot of her passionate and meaningful music has come to life during her tenure with the NYSB. Closing the full-band session, Ron Waiksnoris (NYSB Bandmaster) offered a brief history lesson on Salvation Army brass band heritage and tradition. While often admired and appreciated, the Salvation Army brass band is still misunderstood by those unfamiliar with the deep rooted expressions and intentions of William Booth (Salvation Army founder) and his desire to save souls for Christ through music. As Ron eloquently expressed these references to the past, it is easy to understand why the band plays with such passion and energetic purpose.

As a special guest at the festival, Craig Roberts offered 30 minutes of advice to those bands competing at the upcoming NABBA championships. He has spent a great deal of time adjudicating, conducting, arranging and mentoring bands all over the world. Stemming from the UK, he has worked with many of the top bands in various capacities. His teaching and lecture on preparation and performance, in the contest context, was refreshing and well received by those in attendance.

Following a brief break in activity the NYSB were set to perform a concise and compact mini-concert. However, this was nothing short of the feeling of a primetime full bore onslaught of music making. With those in attendance mostly bandsmen from visiting groups, there was a sense of eagerness to discover just what the NYSB was capable of – to no surprise, delivery was fierce, on time and fresher than ever. Mixing scriptural hymn-like settings with jazz, classical and contemporary, the NYSB was comfortable just the same. Many new works were featured – a few written by Dr. Gates – during this short concert offering by the band. Highlights of the concert included Peter Graham’s ‘Phoenix,’ Gates’ new arrangement of ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’ – set to a soprano cornet and tenor horn duet, and finally, Eric Ball’s famous ‘The Kingdom Triumphant.’

With the conclusion of the concert came time for dinner, as a truckload of pizza was waiting for hungry bandsmen in one of the rehearsal rooms. Following this brief respite it was time for the visiting NABBA bands to run through their respective test and choice pieces – a much needed public test for the upcoming championships. Among some of the memorable selections were Thomas Doss’ ‘Spiriti’ and James Curnow’s ‘Metamorphosis.’

To everyone’s surprise and horror upon exiting the campus for the journey home, all were greeted to a foot of snow that had fallen during the events of the day. The standard 2 hour trip ballooned to 5 hours and even 6 or 7 hours for certain bandsmen. All in all, it was worth the trip to Southern New Jersey for a memorable day full of teaching, learning, banding and – traveling.