It was a great weekend. There was so much admirable music making on our brass instruments. GBB and BBC epitomized that. It was also a pleasure to attend a NABBA that was so well organized; thank you and congratulations to the hosts at Indiana University Southeast!
Despite being disappointed with our band's ranking, the president of Chicago Brass Band sent the following message to the members of the band. It truly elucidates the purpose of brass band competition, at least as it now exists in the US:
I'd like to say that I think it was a good day for NABBA. The
bands are getting better very quickly and the NABBA title is still the most
sought-after prize in American brass banding. The performances at the
solo/ensemble event was at a very high level. The contest was run very
well, I thought, and I'm glad that it will be at the same place next year.
My take on the weekend in general is that NABBA is improving, the competition is getting fierce, and actually we are improving, too. The disappointing result does not mean we're going backwards. We're not. As a band we have come a long way from last September, and we've worked really hard. Our commitment has never been higher, and I'm certain that we all have strong personal feelings about the band. Every person I talked to at the party had positive things to say about the band. We all know we did our best, and it was a performance we were happy with for the most part.
There are many musicians, and even entire bands who decide that the struggle to keep improving is just not worth it, that they should accept where they are and just enjoy the view from their final plateau. Not so with our band. Being a musician in CBB means we never stop trying to get better. All of our hard work did pay off. We're a better band for having done it. Thank you, all of you, from the bottom of my heart.
