Trombone Section Award winners Austin DeDalis, Tristan Hughes and Scott Voytush
Best Soprano Cornet Award winner Mike Baker
Bass Section Award winners Brendan Ige, Colin Holstein, James Long and Brandon Thibault
Best Flugelhorn Award winner Ben Feuerhelm
Percussion Section Award winners Domenic Santini, Kyle Paoletti, Neil Faulkner and Payton Miller
March 27, 2019
For the second year in a row, the Oakland University Brass Band took top honors at the Dublin Festival of Brass, which took place March 22-23 in Dublin, Ohio.
According to Dr. Kenneth Kroesche, associate professor of music, the OU Brass Band was named the Grand Champions of the festival and awarded the Paul Droste Shield after competing against 10 other bands, including the Arkansas Musicworks Brass Band (Arkansas), Chesapeake Brass Band (Delaware), Cincinnati Brass Band (Ohio), Crossroads Brass Band (Indiana), Dublin Metro Brass (Ohio), Dublin Silver Band (Ohio), Fillmore Philharmonic Brass Band (Ohio), Five Lakes Silver Band (Michigan), Rockville Brass Ensemble (Maryland), and the St. Louis Brass Band (Missouri).
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| Photo courtesy John Watkins |
“It’s a fantastic achievement to be named Grand Champions for a second year in a row, proving that last year was not a fluke,” Kroesche said. “There’s no secret to winning — it’s about hard work and this year’s band worked hard to reclaim their title.”
In order to named Grand Champions, the Oakland University Brass Band won in the categories of Best March, Best Slow Melody and Best Major Work. Several players were also singled out for their excellent playing during the performance:
• Michael Baker was named Best Soprano Cornet
• Ben Feuerhelm was recognized as Best Flugelhorn
• Best Section awards went to the trombones, basses and percussion.
To learn more about the Oakland University Brass Band, visit oakland.edu/smtd/programs-and-majors/music.