Only brass band competition in U.S. comes to St. Charles
The largest meeting of brass bands in the United States will occur in St. Charles on Nov. 8 as the only brass band championship in the nation comes to town.
The U.S. Open Brass Band Championships comes to St. Charles after five years in Arlington Heights. The event set a personal attendance record last year, sparking a need to find a larger venue. That venue proved to be the Norris Cultural Arts Center.
"We hated to move because we have quite a following in the northwest suburbs," said Dallas Niermeyer who helps organize the event. "We realize by moving to St. Charles some of those people won't make the trip. But we hope to be able to find a fan base in the Fox Valley area."
To help achieve that, the organizers have stepped up the stakes of the competition for the participating bands. This year's winner will receive an automatic invitation to the Brass In Concert Championships in England, one of the premiere event in brass competition.
"There's really no other way that an American band can get an invitation to that contest," Niermeyer said.
The format of the contest will be the same as previous years, but with some even better rewards for success. Winners of solo competitions will receive an engraved instrument of their specialty valued at as much as $10,000.
The overall competition focuses on both musical prowess and entertainment value of the performances. Many new compositions are created just for the competition.
"You never hear the same thing twice," Niermeyer said. "If you go, you'll probably hear seven or eight world premieres."
The highlights are the half-hour performances of the band and the buskers competition. Busker is an English term for musical street performers. Buskers at the competition will fill the gaps between the performances and be rated by a secret judge. The winner of the busker competition receives all the money people toss into a top hat on the stage.
In addition to helping organize the event, Niermeyer is a former band director at Hersey High School and the director of the Prairie Brass Band based in Arlington Heights. The band will perform at this year's competition after placing fifth overall last year.
Niermeyer said most of the bands practice all year for this specific competition and the Prairie Brass Band is no different.
"We're working very hard," Niermeyer said. "But since we've being doing this competition, all the bands have gotten better. The game has gone way up. Many of the bands will tell you what they do at this contest is what has put them on the map."
Doors open at 9 a.m. on Nov. 8 at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles. The first note is played at 9:30 a.m. Tickets are on sale in advance at: usopenbrass.org, or at the door and cost $20. A free program is included. There will be a preview of the busker's competition at 7 p.m., Nov. 7 at McNally's Irish Pub in St. Charles.