FCBB Featured in The Kansas City Star!

Sounding brass and tinkling cymbal: Kansas City ensemble wins big, travels to England


By PAUL HORSLEY
 

As graduates and their families gathered on the rain-soaked Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art lawn, a smartly dressed conductor raised his baton.


Twenty-five men and three women inhaled in unison, planted sturdy lips to mouthpieces and blew. Out came a sound as viscous and potent as molten brass....click here for complete article.

 

 Harrelson & Stein new Besson Artists:

The FCBB is proud to announce that Artistic Director/Solo Euphoniumist Lee Harrelson, Solo Tubist Tom Stein, and to some extent the Twisted Steel Quartet have been named Besson/Buffet Crampon USA Performing Artists.

 
 
Congratulations to the newest Jayhawk!
 
The FCBB would like to congratulate solo trombonist, Dr. Michael Davidson, on being named the new professor of trombone at the University of Kansas. Mike has been a welcomed addition to the band and will certainly be a fine compliment to the wonderful KU Department of Music and Dance.
 

 

Stan Smith to be featured in Smith-Watkins advertisement.

Assistant Principal Cornetist, Stan Smith will be featured in an advertisement by Smith-Watkins highlighting his use of their instrument at the 2007 North American Brass Band Championships. Click image above for full size view. Image taken by Will Berndt/www.tophatphotography.com.
 
 
   

FCBB Spotlight: FCBB UK Tour
(Spotlight features FCBB members, guest artists and events)
 

FCBB set to represent the USA at the All England International Masters Brass Band Championships and more.

On Thursday afternoon, May 24, the Fountain City Brass Band, with a few friends and family members, will depart the Kansas City International Airport on an eleven day journey that will take them across the pond to the heart of brass banding.

Upon arrival in Manchester at 7:20 a.m., May 25, the FCBB will board a coach that will take them to Cambridge. The historic city of Cambridge, located 50 miles northeast of London with such attractions as the University of Cambridge, King's College Chapel, and punting on the Cam River, will be the home for the band for the next three days. When not rehearsing, and dealing with jetlag, the band will be enjoying the city to the fullest.

Sunday, May 27, the band will be the first American band to compete in the All England International Masters Brass Band Championships during the day and attending a gala concert in the evening presented by the Fairey Band, the European Champions Brass Band Willebroek, and U.S. trumpet star, Rex Richardson.

After a leisurely day and night in the old Roman city of York, the band travels north to Scotland where on the evening of March 30 the band will present a concert of international flavor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Composer Martin Ellerby will be in attendance to not only hear his Tuba Concerto, performed by virtuoso James Gourlay, but to hear one of his newer works for low brass and percussion entitled Epitaph VI: Phoenix Rising (Coventry/Dresden). Other works on the concert include Liberty Fanfare, Selections from Hymn of the Highlands, Land of Make Believe, Paganini Variations, Bugler's Holiday, and March from Pines of Rome. Upon leaving Scotland, the band ventures back to Manchester for the final three nights.

Friday, June 1, the band will take part in the over century old tradition of the Whit Friday Marches. The band will be in the Saddleworth area, traveling to several of the villages performing, in competition, marches both on the move and standing still.

At 7:30 p.m. on June 2, the FCBB will be guests of the Bolton Music Service, where they will present a joint concert with the Bolton Youth Brass Band at St. John's Church, Wingates. FCBB's portion of the concert will be a light mix of American and Scottish fare.

10:40 a.m., June 3, the band departs Manchester to arrive back in Kansas City shortly after 4:00 p.m. ending what will have surely been a culturally enriching and musically rewarding tour and at the same time completing the band's fifth season.

 

For more information on the Fountain City Brass Band, please visit our website at www.fcbb.net.

 
 

FCBB posing for NABBA formal photo!

SUPPORT YOUR BAND

The Fountain City Brass Band is an American Heritage Foundation.

As a non-profit organization, the Fountain City Brass Band relies on grants and its corporate and private supporters for financial assistance. Without these generous tax deductible donations, our band could not continue recruiting talented players for the band or giving this area the same quality programs and guest artists.

Tickets sales account for only half of the costs of each concert. Our goal is to keep ticket prices within an affordable range so that all persons may have access to the performances. In order to continue giving the community the same level of quality band music, the band must raise funds to offset our costs.

 

This May, the FCBB will become the first American brass band to compete in the All-England International Masters Brass Band Championships in Cambridge, England. The Masters is a competition that invites some of the world's very best brass bands and the FCBB is humbled by their decision to grant our young band a chance to experience banding at the highest level.

While in England the band will also participate in the, over century old, tradition of the Whit Friday Marches, in addition to presenting concerts and clinics throughout the country.

The FCBB needs your support. The FCBB is a volunteer organization, so none of the members make any money performing in the group. In fact each band member pays probably close to $2000 each year, just to be a part of this fine ensemble. The English tour will end up costing the band around $60,000. If you would like to become a "Friend of the FCBB", and make a tax deductible donation to the band please contact Lee Harrelson at 816.305.4894 or at lee@fcbb.net. You may also contact Lee if you would like to travel with the band to England May 23-June 4, 2007 or the North American Brass Band Championships in Louisville, April 12-15, 2007.

Our "Friends of the FCBB" can choose from a variety of ways to assist us in producing the same exquisite programs, often with gifted guest artists brought in from all over the world. Outright gifts of cash, planned gifts and fundraisers are all ways individuals and groups can ensure the continued delivery of the timeless masterpieces and contemporary pops.

For more assistance on planned giving and how to participate in our fundraisers, simply call our office at (816) 305-4894 or email us at fcbb@fcbb.net.

Tax deductible cash gifts may be mailed to Fountain City Brass Band, Inc., PO Box 7119
Kansas City, MO 64113