New Music Festival to Fill the Air with the Sounds of Brass

The unique sounds of cornets, trombones, tubas, euphoniums, tenor horns and other brass instruments will fill the air during the inaugural Southeastern Brass Band Festival on May 11, 2019, from 12 noon to 6 p.m. at the Lassiter High School Concert Hall in Marietta. Admission is free.

This first of its kind festival in metro Atlanta is sponsored by the Georgia Brass Band, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary season. Ensembles from throughout the southeast have been invited to perform traditional British-style brass band repertoire, as well as arrangements of well-known classical and modern works.

“Brass bands have been part of the cultural fabric of the British Isles since the early years of the Industrial Revolution,” noted Georgia Brass Band founder and conductor Joe Johnson. “It’s so exciting to see audiences on this side of the Atlantic come to appreciate this music and support ensembles in their own communities.”

Today, thousands of professional musicians, skilled amateurs and talented students in the U.S. and Canada entertain audiences with this exciting genre of music and compete in regional, national and international competitions. The Southeastern Brass Band Festival will help to introduce this music to a broader audience in the Atlanta area.

Rome’s 8th Regiment Band will kick off the festival performances at 12 noon on May 11, followed by the Brass Band of Nashville at 1 p.m., Chattanooga’s Jericho Brass Band at 2 p.m., the Brass Band of Huntsville at 3 p.m., and the Rome-based Roman Festival Brass Band at 4 p.m. The Georgia Brass Band will take the stage to conclude the festival with a performance at 5 p.m. Student brass groups from Lassiter High School will also perform brief sets throughout the afternoon.

Admission to the festival is free, though donations in support of brass band ensembles will be accepted. Lassiter High School is located at 2601 Shallowford Road, Marietta, GA 30066. Audience members can enjoy the entire program or drop in at any time during the afternoon.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/georgiabrassband.