Reflections 0n the 2023 Season
The Board of the Friends of the Yankee Brass Band will be meeting to begin planning next year’s 37th season tour. Before that occurs, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on this year’s very successful tour of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I also wish to acknowledge the passing of Yankee’s founding music director, Mr. Paul Maybery on September 9th, 2023. Paul directed the Yankee Brass from its founding in 1986 through 2019, a period of 34 seasons. His knowledge of 19th-century brass bands and his arrangements of music are still evident in the performances of the band. It is our hope that we will continue to keep his memory alive in the future. We hope you will read the In Memoriam notice and tribute.
It was as a baritone horn substitute performer that I first joined the Yankee Brass. It seems like quite a while ago, and that would explain why I can’t remember when it was. However, I do remember my amazement at how quickly the players from across the country came together as an outstanding ensemble. In a matter of hours, Paul Maybery made his program our program, and we began a season of outstanding performances.
The same was true this year. On Sunday evening we arrived in East Stroudsburg, met old and new friends, and went to work at 8:30 the next morning. A day of rehearsals was followed by a lengthy commute to Harrisburg, PA attending the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association. Highlights of the two performances at the conference were Ken Kreitner’s, lecture recital, “The American Amateur Brass Band” and the evening performance of the “Oh Susanna” variations by the band and Eb Horn soloist, Dennis Emmert.
Wednesday evening we took the stage at the amphitheater of the Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary in White Mills. Not only did we enjoy an excellent meal, but we performed before one of the largest audiences in Yankee history. And, of course, we took the annual photo in historically accurate, stoic pose.
Thursday and Friday were two more musical and historically accurate performances, the first at East Stroudsburg University in the lovely Cecilia S. Cohen Recital Hall, and the next in the Palmerton Borough Park Bandstand in Palmerton, PA.
And we ended the tour in one of the loveliest of sites, Garrett D. Wall Park in Belvidere, NJ. There is a reason why this town’s Italian name translates to beautiful view, and we liked to think that the lovely homes were decorated in honor of the visiting Yankee Brass Band.
As we said farewell to our musician friends and headed back to our homes across the country, we realized that the Yankee Brass Band is a wonderful experience for our audiences, and perhaps a bit more wonderful for the players. Follow us to see where we will be in 2024.