Brass Bands have been a part of the community in Michigan for sometime, especially in the Salvation Army, but it has only been recently that they have taken off in the secular scene.

Salvationist Roots
There are several Salvation Army bands that have long standing history, possibly the oldest being from Flint, Michigan (1905), a city where Bill Himes spent many years before leading the Chicago Staff Band. Three other Salvation Army standout groups are much closer to the U.S./Canadian border including Royal Oak Citadel Band, Dearborn, and Port Huron (1910), the hometown of composer, James Curnow. Perhaps it is this proximity that helped keep the corp bands strong even as Sousa led the wind band revolution.

Battle Creek Influence
In 1989, the brothers Jim and Bill Gray (with support from the Kellogg Foundation) formed the Brass Band of Battle Creek (BBBC). Since that time BBBC has not only become well known in the States, but worldwide for it’s international talent and distinctly American style. Since that time, the seed has been planted in Michigan, and brass bands have begun to sprout up like wildflowers

Contest Veterans
Of these groups, the Motor City Brass Band, from the Detroit Metropolitan area, is the oldest (1996) and most established. Under the direction of Craig Strain, the group has competed at both the North American Brass Band Championships and the U.S. Open with a mixed bag of results.

However, it is not the contesting scene that Motor City is best known for, but rather its entertaining and well attended concert series, regularly bringing in special guests. Additionally, because of its sound organizational structure, they have developed and supported the Motor City Youth Brass Band, being one of the first secular brass bands in the States to have it’s own youth program.

Statewide Growth
Since the formation of the Motor City Brass Band, other secular bands have formed all over the state (as evident by the names of the bands), including the Northern Michigan Brass Band (1999) in Gaylord, the Central Michigan University Brass Band in Mount Pleasant, (2001), and the West Michigan Brass Band (2008), in Grand Rapids.

Oakland University (also from the Detroit area) has also recently started a brass band (2009), under the direction of euphonium player and professor Dr. Kenneth Kroesche. OUBB made their debut at NABBA last year en route to a third section title, and will be making the jump to the first section this year. The university has been extremely supportive of the brass band, purchasing a set of Yamaha cornets (Xeno), tenor horns and baritones. This type of university support is atypical, but given Dr. Kroesche’s experience with brass bands (most notably the Smoky Mountain Brass Band in NC), it is sure to be an investment that pays dividends.

Debutantes
Two bands making their debut at this year’s North American Championships are the Capital City Brass Band (formed in 2001) from Lansing and the Oakland Brass Band (formed in 2007).

The Capital City Brass Band (also under Kroesche’s direction) recently shared a concert with the Oakland University Brass Band, in spite of the 2-hour drive between the two locations. Capital City will be competing in the third section and hoping the home-state advantage will bring another 3rd section title to Michigan.

The Oakland Brass Band was only recently formed and is not typical in that the band does not rehearse weekly. Because the group has a high percentage of freelance musicians, they will typically have multiple rehearsals the weeks leading up to a concert. This aids those that are serious about the music, but don’t have the time commitment.

Last year, the Oakland Brass Band traveled to Toronto, Ontario for the Hannaford Festival of Brass and will be doing so again the week after NABBA.

Exciting Future
Needless to say, the future of brass banding in Michigan is exciting with a well-established youth band, university group and several adult bands. Bands have good relationships between the each other and a healthy competition. There is certainly a solid foundation and adult outlet for musicians to develop their love and passion for brass banding as well as one of the top brass bands in America all within the same state.