Ozark Mountains British Brass Band brings its unique sound to Siloam Springs on Sunday, March 1.
The band will give a concert at 3 p.m. at the Siloam Springs High School Performing Arts Center. The concert is free but donations are requested to support the organization.
The Ozark Mountains British Brass Band is made up of 30 highly proficient musicians who come from all walks of life and range in age from high school students to retirees, according to Loree Todd, band member and secretary/treasurer. Members are from all over Northwest Arkansas and include a number of current and retired high school band directors.
The band is directed by Rebecca Gale, retired Bentonville High School band director.
Siloam Springs High School band director Keith Rutledge, Siloam Springs musician Ernest Whitmore, and Gentry High School Band director Karri Wesson are band members and will be featured soloists, Todd said.
During the hour-and-a-half concert, the band will be playing audience favorites such as "Oklahoma," "Singin' in the Rain," "Mission Impossible," "(Meet) The Flintstones," and a piece from "The Phantom of the Opera."
"I think that it will be a very easy concert to listen to for all ages," Todd said.
British brass bands are made up entirely of brass and percussion instruments with no woodwinds or strings, Todd said. The Ozark Mountains British Brass Band plays a wide variety of music -- from orchestral to marching band music.
In a brass band, brass instruments pick up the parts the other instruments would play in an orchestra or traditional band, Todd said. Coronet and euphonium players take the lead and play things the clarinets and flutes or orchestra violins might play.
Todd compared the sound to an organ but said the band's music has a different timbre because the instruments are similar to an organ but in different octaves.
More information is available on the band's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/OzarkMountainsBritishBrassBand.
General News on 02/25/2015