Simply put: we are very serious about having fun making great music!
Brass Band Northwest (BBNW) was founded in 2002 with the goal of sharing the vibrant and exciting sound of brass music with audiences of all ages throughout the Pacific Northwest. BBNW is grounded in the tradition of the British brass band, but explores a wide range of musical genres.
BBNW is composed of professional, semi-professional, and amateur musicians who rehearse weekly to prepare five major concerts each season. In addition, Brass Band Northwest performs for a variety of events including the Yarrow Point’s Independence Day Celebration, Pioneer Days in Tacoma, Trilogy Concerts, and park concerts for the Downtown Seattle Association. BBNW has also appeared on 98.1 KING-FM for Northwest Focus Live and performs for Bellevue Presbyterian Church services.
Brass Band Northwest also hosts the Northwest Brass Festival each year, presenting brass bands from California to British Columbia. The festival is a full day of clinics and performances with internationally recognized band clinicians and guest soloists such as Stephen Bulla, Patrick Sheridan, Mark Gould, Philip Sparke, James Curnow, Douglas Yeo, Allen Vizzutti, James Gourlay, and Jens Lindemann. Local high school and college students are particularly encouraged to attend the clinics led by experts in brass and participate in the Festival Brass Ensemble. The festival concludes with a Gala Festival Concert featuring all participating bands, the student brass ensemble, and solo performance by the guest artist.
Go to the Northwest Brass Festival web page for more information.
Perform with BBNW
We are always looking for qualified substitutes – sometimes for a rehearsal, sometimes for an entire concert series. If you play cornet, flugel horn, alto horn, baritone horn, euphonium, trombone, bass trombone, tuba or percussion and are available on Tuesday evenings we’d like to hear from you! Brass bands do not use trumpets or French horns, and all parts, except bass trombone, are written in transposed treble clef; traditionally, brass band musicians have switched among instruments with mouthpieces of a similar size. Simply fill out the Contact form located at the bottom of the page and fill in your information. Or you can send us an email directly at: info@brassbandnw.org.
Brass Band Northwest rehearsals are held Tuesday evenings from September through June at Bellevue Presbyterian Church. We start promptly at 7:00 PM and end at 9:30 PM. Stop by, listen to a rehearsal and hear what brass band music is all about.