UK Tour – Nov 2009

Posted on 09. Dec, 2009 by Raquel in News, brass band, cornet

Dr. Raquel Rodriquez, Assistant Professor of Trumpet at NKU, recently had a monumental November in which she embarked on a UK tour with the Fountain City Brass Band, a traditional British style brass band based out of Kansas City. With FCBB she won a national and international championship, recorded a CD, and performed as a soloist at various international venues to critical acclaim.  Before heading across the pond, Rodriquez joined FCBB as they competed and won the US Open Brass Band Championships held in St Charles, IL on November 7, 2009.  Shortly thereafter, the group headed to England to compete in one of the most prestigious entertainment competitions in the world – The Brass In Concert Championships held at Gateshead, England on November 15, 2009. This competition draws the best brass bands in the world and is by invitation only. FCBB had been invited the previous year because of their US Open Championship win in 2008. FCBB had the honor of performing in the Gala concert the day before the competition in which they shared the stage with the legendary Black Dyke and Cory Bands. The next day FCBB competed in the Championship ultimately receiving 7th place. Rodriquez was the featured soloist and performed the classic cornet solo, the Carnival of Venice by JB Arban. The performance received high praise including…”a bravura performance…a female Herbert L. Clarke… played with aplomb…excellent playing”.

Following this competition, FCBB had concerts in Glasgow, Scotland; Banbury, England; Boscombe, England; and workshops at the Royal Northern College of Music and Bolton Music Service. The group also took two days to record a CD in part sponsored by World of Brass set to be released in 2010. At the concert in Boscombe, Raquel’s solo performance was reviewed by the Bournemouth Echo as…” The highlight of the programme was the Carnival of Venice featuring the brilliant cornet playing by Raquel Rodriquez.”

On Saturday, November 28, 2009 the Fountain City Brass Band cemented its place in history by becoming the first American band to win a top level brass band competition on UK soil, and became the first non-UK band to win the Championship in over 50 years. The competition was the Scottish Open Brass Band Championships which took place in Perth, Scotland at the Perth Concert Hall.

FCBB in front of the Royal Albert Hall, photo by Nate Gay