River City Brass Band

The River City Brass Band (River City Brass, RCB) is a modified British-style brass band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] 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.

River City Brass Band
River City Brass Band
Background information
Also known asRiver City Brass, RCB
OriginPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
GenresBrass Band, Big Band
Years active1981–present
MembersGeneral Director
James Gourlay


Operations Director
Cynthia Geib
Director of Administration
Philip Parr


Marketing & Communications Manager
Cassandra Muhr
Websitewww.rivercitybrass.org

It received a standing ovation from a crowd of one thousand[2] 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.[3][4]

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,[5] and, by the mid-1990s, was known as "one of America's premier brass ensembles."[6]

Ensemble history
River City Brass Band

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.[7]

On November 21, 1981, the RCB performed under the baton of conductor Robert Bernat[8] at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh during its inaugural concert.[9][10] 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."[11]

Since that time, the ensemble has been a featured performer at the Adelaide Festival of the Arts (Australia),[12][13] Musikfest (Pennsylvania),[14] Chautauqua Institution (New York),[15] New Zealand International Festival of the Arts,[16] Interlochen Center for the Arts (Michigan),[17] and Thalian Hall (North Carolina),[18] among many other venues across the United States and world.[19][20][21]

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

Band members

One of the band's founding members was cornetist Joseph Murphy, a nuclear physicist at Westinghouse.[22] A list of the principal band members of the River City Brass Band as of 2021 includes:

  • Conductor: James Gourlay
  • Principal Soprano Cornet: Shawn Wilson
  • Principal Cornet: Josh Boudreau
  • Solo Cornets: Scott Nadelson, Jeffrey Nicodemus, Joseph Perrino
  • Repiano Cornet: William Hughes
  • 2nd Cornets: Adam Leasure
  • 3rd Cornets: Stephen McGough, Samantha Croach
  • Principal Flugelhorn: Drew Fennell
  • Principal Horn: David Piecka
  • Horns: Kenneth Russo, Jason Allison
  • Baritones: Ross Cohen, Abby Lannan
  • Principal Euphonium: Algirdas Matonis
  • Euphoniums: Michael Dingfelder
  • Principal Trombone: John Sebastian Vera
  • Trombone: Gabriel Colby
  • Bass Trombone: Hakeem Bilal
  • Principal Tuba: Sam Buccigrossi
  • Eb Tuba: James Stillwagon
  • Bb Tubas: Brian Kelley, Carson McTeer
  • Principal Percussion: Richard Parsons
  • Percussion: Paul Evans, Philip Webster

References
  1. Apone, Carl. "Classy Brass Band a Big Score for City." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 6, 1981, p. 2 (subscription required).
  2. Apone, Carl. "Brass Band's Bow: Bold and—Brassy." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 23, 1981, p. 11 (subscription required).
  3. Apone, Carl. "Strike Up the Brass Band!" Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 19, 1981, p. 53 (subscription required).
  4. Apone, "Classy Brass Band a Big Score for City," The Pittsburgh Press, September 6, 1981.
  5. Gallagher, Pg. "Brass to resound in Elmira July 3." Elmira, New York: Star-Gazette, May 16, 1987, p. 6 (subscription required).
  6. "Brass in the Afternoon." Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo News, August 26, 1994, p. 51 (subscription required).
  7. 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).
  8. Apone, Carl. "River City Brass Band's audience is ever-widening." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 1, 1985, p. 105 (subscription required).
  9. Apone, "Strike Up the Brass Band," The Pittsburgh Press, November 19, 1981.
  10. Apone, "Classy Brass Band a Big Score for City," The Pittsburgh Press, September 6, 1981.
  11. Apone, "Brass Band's Bow: Bold and—Brassy," The Pittsburgh Press, November 23, 1981.
  12. "US's top brass blasts Bexley." Sydney, Australia: The Sydney Morning Herald, March 23, 1988, p. 18 (subscription rquired).
  13. Anderson, George. "Notes from Down Under." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 14, 1988, p. 12 (subscription required).
  14. 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).
  15. Swan, Joyce. "Chautauqua Plans Rousing Opening." Buffalo, New York: The Buffalo News, May 9, 1988, p. 15 (subscription required).
  16. Apone, Carl. "River City Brass will go to Australia." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, September 8, 1987, p. 15 (subscription required).
  17. 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).
  18. Seeling, Robert. "Hail to River City." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 28, 2002 (subscription required).
  19. 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).
  20. "'MMusic' at Ithaca College." Ithaca, New York: The Ithaca Journal, August 19, 1999, p. 38 (subscription required).
  21. Rosenberg, Donald. "After 10 years, Brass Band still growing." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, November 4, 1991, p. 10 (subscription required).
  22. Druckenbrod, Andrew. "Nuclear physicist and founding member of River City Brass Band." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 15, 2000, p. 33 (subscription required).
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