About the Madison Brass Band
The Madison Brass Band is the premier brass band of southern Wisconsin. The group, which is roughly 30 musicians strong, plays a variety of music at locations throughout the state of Wisconsin including brass band classics, marches, hymns, jazz arrangements, orchestral arrangements, pops, movie music, and more.
1863: The Original Band
The original Madison Brass Band was founded in 1863 by George Scherer (pictured right), a Bavarian immigrant and proprietor of a meat market in Madison. Its first members were businessmen, cobblers, cigar-makers, stone-cutters, and a saloon proprietor. Only one member was a professional musician.
The brass band dates back to the early nineteenth century and England’s Industrial Revolution as an outgrowth of the medieval waits. With increasing urbanization, employers began to finance work bands to decrease the political activity with which the working classes seemed preoccupied during their leisure time. Thus, the brass band tradition was founded.
Provided by the Wisconsin HIstorical Society, this photo dates back to September 10, 1879 and shows the band performing at the Wisconsin State Fair at Camp Randall. The view is facing east toward the Wisconsin State Capitol.
The Band Today
The Madison Brass Band in its current form was created in 2002 and is only one of three British-Style Brass Bands in Wisconsin (along with the Milwaukee Festival Brass and the Northwinds Brass Band in Eau Claire). Consisting of current music educators, freelance musicians, retirees, software developers, brewers, parents, and college students, MBB performs for a variety of audiences at a variety of venues including schools, churches, nursing homes, theaters, and outdoor concert spaces.
The Madison Brass Band has performed throughout Wisconsin and across the United States. The band regularly performs across South-Central Wisconsin in cities like Madison, Milton, Hartland, Whitewater, Oregon, and Milwaukee. MBB has also competed in the US Open Brass Band contest in Michigan and the Iowa Brass Band’s “Wurst Fest” and “Wurst Friday” March contest (a midwest twist on the Whit Friday band contest in the UK each year). The band has also performed collaboratively with other bands including the Sheldon Theater Brass and Milwaukee Festival Brass, as well as at events like Brass at the Border. The band’s dedication is further exemplified by their collaborations with renowned clinicians like Joe Parisi, Scott Teeple, Colin Holman, Mark Taylor, and Phillip Harper.
MBB also regularly attends the North American Brass Band Association’s (NABBA) Championship every year. MBB has been attending NABBA since 2012 when it first entered in the 2nd section and won the division. Since then, MBB has competed in the 1st section and have since been striving to continue challenging themselves musically.
