Vintage Band Festival
Latest posts from on 12/22/2023

Tuba Christmas 2023 was a success!

By Dan Bergeson on Dec 21, 2023 05:24 pm

Tuba Christmas 2023 in Northfield was a roaring success. An audience of over 600 filled Carleton College’s Skinner Memorial Chapel  and listened with rapt attention to nearly 60 tubas and euphoniums playing a variety of Christmas carols. In between numbers, conductor Dr. Paul Niemisto presented information about the evolution of low brass instruments and cultural context for some of the carols.

2023 is the 50th Anniversary of the Tuba Christmas organization and the 24th annual Tuba Christmas in Northfield.

Many thanks to the Carleton’s Conference and Events staff for their assistance in set up and take down and to the college for once again being a supportive co-host for the event.

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Vintage Band Festival awarded a 2023 SEMAC Legacy Grant

By Dan Bergeson on Dec 19, 2023 05:02 pm

The Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) has awarded Vintage Band Festival a 2023 Legacy Grant for Organizations. The $10,000 grant will be used to partially fund the upcoming Vintage Band Festival 2024 next summer.

One member of the review committee had this to say about our application:

“The people involved in this project are very qualified and have varied skills…great that you are helping to keep Big Band music alive and bringing high quality music to your community….by varying the styles of music it is a educational experience for your audiences and keeps it enjoyable…the location keeps the event very inclusive of all…by mixing amateur and professional bands everyone learns from each other and that makes it a win win for everyone!”

Another reviewer commented:

“A very unique event that evolves and keeps your community involved because of the quality bands and the live music experience….great that you are including Latino bands also…this project seems to have lots of community support from donors to volunteers to attendees…  Community involvement is great for this project, and there appears to be planning to improve upon past experiences.”

We’re grateful to our fantastic grant writer, Joy Riggs, for another successful outcome. We’re also grateful to the Minnesota legislature for passing the Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment in 2008. That legislation provides the funding for SEMAC and other regional arts councils in Minnesota to administer.

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Recent Articles:

The Vintage Band Festival Fund
VBF on the radio: Tuba Christmas & the VBF Fund
Sheldon Theatre Brass Band Holiday Concert
Future Vintage Band Festival dates
Give to the Max Day celebrates 15 years in 2023!