Rockville Brass Band, formed in 1976, is one of the oldest competing British-style brass band in the US. It is located in Rockville, Maryland, and like other brass bands consists of cornets, alto horns, baritones, trombones, euphoniums, basses, and percussion. The group plays a repertoire in the British and American traditions, and is conducted by Rachel Zephir.
The cornet is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B♭. There is also a soprano cornet in E♭ and cornets in A and C. All are unrelated to the Renaissance and early Baroque cornett.
The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word εὔφωνος euphōnos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced". The euphonium is a valved instrument. Nearly all current models have piston valves, though some models with rotary valves do exist.
The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a characteristic mellow tone quality and blends well with other brass.
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibration – a buzz – into a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the newer instruments in the modern orchestra and concert band, and largely replaced the ophicleide. Tuba is Latin for "trumpet".
Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth-largest incorporated city in Maryland.
Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 26,016 at the 2020 census.
The tenor horn is a brass instrument in the saxhorn family and is usually pitched in E♭. It has a bore that is mostly conical, like the flugelhorn and euphonium, and normally uses a deep, cornet-like mouthpiece.
In Britain, a brass band is a musical ensemble comprising a standardized range of brass and percussion instruments. The modern form of the brass band in the United Kingdom dates back to the 19th century, with a vibrant tradition of competition based around communities and local industry, with colliery bands being particularly notable. The Stalybridge Old Band was formed in 1809 and was perhaps the first civilian brass band in the world.
Early British popular music, in the sense of commercial music enjoyed by the people, can be seen to originate in the 16th and 17th centuries with the arrival of the broadside ballad as a result of the print revolution, which were sold cheaply and in great numbers until the 19th century. Further technological, economic and social changes led to new forms of music in the 19th century, including the brass band, which produced a popular and communal form of classical music. Similarly, the music hall sprang up to cater for the entertainment of new urban societies, adapting existing forms of music to produce popular songs and acts. In the 1930s, the influence of American Jazz led to the creation of British dance bands, who provided a social and popular music that began to dominate social occasions and the radio airwaves.
O.A.R. is an American rock band, founded in 1996 in Rockville, Maryland. The band consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Roberge, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On, bassist Benj Gershman and saxophonist/guitarist Jerry DePizzo. Touring members include trumpet player Jon Lampley and keyboardist Mikel Paris. Together, the band has released ten studio albums. The band is well known for their live shows and extensive summer touring, and have released six live records, with the latest release, Live From Merriweather, in November 2019. Four of the band members grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and attended Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School. After graduating, they went on to study at Ohio State University. There they met the fifth member, saxophonist/guitarist Jerry DePizzo from Youngstown, Ohio.
Brassed Off is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor.
The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band, based in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the colliery, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band. Along with the Black Dyke Mills Band, the band became the first to perform at the Proms. Grimethorpe Band achieved worldwide fame after appearing in the film Brassed Off.
Philip Allen Sparke is an English composer and musician born in London, noted for his concert band and brass band music. His early major works include The Land of the Long White Cloud – "Aotearoa", written for the 1980 Centennial New Zealand Brass Band championship. He subsequently went on to win the EBU New Music for Band Competition three times, including in 1986 with a commission from the BBC called Orient Express.
FM are a British rock band. They have released thirteen studio albums to date. Three of those, Indiscreet, Tough It Out and 2015's Heroes and Villains reached the UK Albums Chart, whilst five of the band's singles made inroads into the UK Singles Chart.
"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" is the second and final single released by American rock band R.E.M. from their second studio album, Reckoning. The song failed to chart on either the Billboard Hot 100 or the UK Singles Charts.
As part of the British brass band tradition of contesting, bands are split into five main brass band sections in the United Kingdom. These are the Championship, First, Second, Third, and Fourth sections. In some contests, a Youth section is also used, but this is not graded. The adjudicator for qualifying contests sits enclosed and unable to see the bands as they play, and then judges them on various points, one of which is interpretation.
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands, but may be more correctly termed military bands, concert bands, or "brass and reed" bands.
The brass section of the orchestra, concert band, and jazz ensemble consist of brass instruments, and is one of the main sections in all three ensembles. The British-style brass band contains only brass and percussion instruments.
Steve Overland is a British singer/musician who was the lead vocalist and songwriter for the bands Wildlife, FM, The Ladder, Shadowman, and his own group, Overland.