River City Brass Band
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The River City Brass Band (River City Brass, RCB) is a modified British-style brass band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<ref>Apone, Carl. "Classy Brass Band a Big Score for City." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 6, 1981, p. 2 (subscription required).</ref> The twenty-eight-piece ensemble tours extensively throughout the United States and performs more than thirty-five concerts each year as part of its community concert series in Western Pennsylvania.
It received a standing ovation from a crowd of one thousand<ref>Apone, Carl. "Brass Band's Bow: Bold and—Brassy." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 23, 1981, p. 11 (subscription required).</ref> after making its public debut at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood on Saturday evening, November 21, 1981 during Pittsburgh's British Festival.<ref>Apone, Carl. "Strike Up the Brass Band!" Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 19, 1981, p. 53 (subscription required).</ref><ref>Apone, "Classy Brass Band a Big Score for City," The Pittsburgh Press, September 6, 1981.</ref>
Within six years of its founding, this ensemble had "gained a national reputation as one of America's most popular touring attractions," according to the Elmira Star-Gazette,<ref>Gallagher, Pg. "Brass to resound in Elmira July 3." Elmira, New York: Star-Gazette, May 16, 1987, p. 6 (subscription required).</ref> and, by the mid-1990s, was known as "one of America's premier brass ensembles."<ref>"Brass in the Afternoon." Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo News, August 26, 1994, p. 51 (subscription required).</ref>
Ensemble history
Building upon the long-standing tradition of brass bands popularized in Great Britain and the United States, the River City Brass (RCB) is staffed by twenty-five brass players and three percussionists. RCB differs from most brass bands, however, in that its instrumentation has been altered. French Horns are used instead of alto horns, and an Eb soprano trumpet is employed in place of a soprano cornet, creating a lighter, brighter, more "orchestral" sound than the traditional brass band.<ref>Parry, Virginia. "Englewood Area Performing Arts Series presents River City Brass Band." Port Charlotte, Florida: Port Charlotte Sun, January 23, 2019, p. G7 (subscription required).</ref>
On November 21, 1981, the RCB performed under the baton of conductor Robert Bernat<ref>Apone, Carl. "River City Brass Band's audience is ever-widening." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 1, 1985, p. 105 (subscription required).</ref> at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh during its inaugural concert.<ref>Apone, "Strike Up the Brass Band," The Pittsburgh Press, November 19, 1981.</ref><ref>Apone, "Classy Brass Band a Big Score for City," The Pittsburgh Press, September 6, 1981.</ref> Among the performers during that first RCB concert were British musicians Robert Childs, a renowned euphonium performer with the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, and Arthur Taylor, a British brass band concert producer who served as the master of ceremonies for the RCB event. Enid Hattersley, then lord mayor of Sheffield, England, Pittsburgh's sister city, also participated, and was described by one area newspaper as "feisty and funny."<ref>Apone, "Brass Band's Bow: Bold and—Brassy," The Pittsburgh Press, November 23, 1981.</ref>
Since that time, the ensemble has been a featured performer at the Adelaide Festival of the Arts (Australia),<ref>"US's top brass blasts Bexley." Sydney, Australia: The Sydney Morning Herald, March 23, 1988, p. 18 (subscription required).</ref><ref>Anderson, George. "Notes from Down Under." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 14, 1988, p. 12 (subscription required).</ref> Musikfest (Pennsylvania),<ref>Hay, Bryan. "River City returns brass sound to pristine pre-Sousa days," in Musikfest '95." Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, August 6, 1995, p. 126 (subscription required).</ref> Chautauqua Institution (New York),<ref>Swan, Joyce. "Chautauqua Plans Rousing Opening." Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo News, May 9, 1988, p. 15 (subscription required).</ref> New Zealand International Festival of the Arts,<ref>Apone, Carl. "River City Brass will go to Australia." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 8, 1987, p. 15 (subscription required).</ref> Interlochen Center for the Arts (Michigan),<ref>Pongrac, Kayla. "River City Brass Band to Be PPAC's Last 2018 Show." Somerset, Pennsylvania: The Daily American, May 3, 2018, p. D2 (subscription required).</ref> and Thalian Hall (North Carolina),<ref>Seeling, Robert. "Hail to River City." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 28, 2002 (subscription required).</ref> among many other venues across the United States and world.<ref>Gallagher, Tim. "River City Brass Band to perform in Concert Course finale." Sioux City, Iowa: Sioux City Journal, April 25, 2002, p. 18 (subscription required).</ref><ref>"'MMusic' at Ithaca College." Ithaca, New York: The Ithaca Journal, August 19, 1999, p. 38 (subscription required).</ref><ref>Rosenberg, Donald. "After 10 years, Brass Band still growing." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 4, 1991, p. 10 (subscription required).</ref>
According to the ensemble's website, “The mission of the River City Brass is to propagate and perpetuate musical culture, primarily American musical culture, across a broad spectrum of the public through the presentation of brass band performances, educational programs and the production of recordings. The River City Brass has as its central obligation service to the people of Western Pennsylvania.”
To that end, River City Brass members have operated a youth program since 1986. Known as the River City Youth Brass Band, it enables young musicians to hone their craft under the close supervision of professional players.
Since August 2010, the River City Brass has been led by internationally renowned tuba soloist and British conductor, James Gourlay.
Musical directors
- 1981-1994 Robert Bernat
- 1994-2009 Denis Colwell
- 2010–Present James Gourlay
Band members
One of the band's founding members was cornetist Joseph Murphy, a nuclear physicist at Westinghouse.<ref>Druckenbrod, Andrew. "Nuclear physicist and founding member of River City Brass Band." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 15, 2000, p. 33 (subscription required).</ref> A list of the principal band members of the River City Brass Band as of 2021 includes:
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