PHOTO OF THE DAY: BLAST FROM THE PAST (WEEK)
This photo of the Michael Levine, founder of Dallas Brass, accompanies a story about the ensemble’s enriching visit to Marion last week, published in this week’s Courier. The account of the visit is as follows:
Dallas Brass was just about to break for intermission of their May 7 concert at the Marion High School gym when Michael Levine, founder and artistic director of the group, teed up what was to come.
First thing out of the break, he said, would feature the 114 middle school and high school band students from seven area schools with whom Dallas Brass had worked throughout that Wednesday.
It is, after all, what the audience had come to see.
The crowd chuckled.
Sure, while the student involvement was at the core of the group’s mission — that is, promoting and encouraging a love for music in the younger generation — it was the seven-member ensemble that took center stage for a 90-minute performance short on bravado and long on showmanship, that thrilled an appreciative audience in attendance.
“Awesome,” said Bill Leberman, the principal at Marion who worked closely with the logistics required to bring the acclaimed group in. “Yeah, what a great experience. We had heard it was going to be one of the best experiences of all those band members’ lives — just to be around that — and also for the audience. And it didn’t let us down at all.
“I saw so many smiles on everyone’s faces in the crowd.”
Dallas Brass’ visit to Marion coincided with a number of performances in Sioux Falls as part of its 2024-25 season that began last September, and was made possible thanks to a relationship with Mindee Birnstiehl, who has worked with the group and previously taught music at both Freeman Public and Parker, and today leads band at Sioux Falls Lutheran.
“She wanted to bring them to a small town in the area and asked me if we’d be interested in hosting,” Leberman said. “She knows Mike Levine very well and was instrumental in giving us the Xs and Ox behind how it all works. She was really the ringleader, and we were happy to accept the invitation and get to work.”
Dallas Brass’ fee isn’t cheap — it’s just shy of $10,000 — and finding sponsorship support was critical in keeping the price of tickets down. But Leberman said the communities came through bigtime, with NuGen Energy providing a key contribution and other support coming from Rivers Edge Bank, Campbell County Bank, Parker Ford, Jones Food Center, Donlan’s Foodland, State Farm Insurance-Mark Kasten, Bowlway Lanes, First Step Home Inspection, LLC, Marcela’s Mexican Kitchen, Hometown Insurance Company and Rural Manufacturing.
And while the evening concert highlighted the group’s visit to Marion last Wednesday, there was a lot more to it than just the entertainment that was on display inside the Marion gym that evening. That’s because the members of Dallas Brass imbedded themselves inside the school during the day, working with the band students in an effort to help instill in them an appreciation for music.
In his opening remarks to the audience near the beginning of last week’s concert, Levine noted the group had been in Sioux Falls the previous two nights and in Minnesota — his home state — prior to that.
“It’s been wonderful, but today was an extra-special day working with these awesome students,” he said. “Usually when we do this we work with one school, but today there were seven schools, so the students got to meet new friends, and it was just a delight all around.”
Courtney Hentges, who is wrapping up her third year as band teacher at Marion, said the group’s interaction with the students was part show and tell, part education, part critique and part rehearsal for the two songs the students would perform along with Dallas Brass that evening — a song from the Star Wars soundtrack by the middle schoolers and a patriotic medley by the high school students.
“I felt like I was being entertained all day long,” said Hentges. “I loved watching the kids light up with good musicianship — something they don’t get to see all the time. They’re not going to the (Washington) Pavilion for a live show, or the symphony orchestra; they just don’t get to see that professional musicianship very often.”
The fact that it was in an intimate and personal setting made it all the more special.
“It was great to see them watch somebody who is into music because they love music,” she continued. “Hopefully they see that in me day to day, but these are musicians who are really dedicated to the profession, and it was great to see that come to life.”
“They’re just so good with kids — so interactive,” said Leberman. “They weren’t just a band that came in and played. It was almost like having seven extra band instructors in our building, and pretty good band instructors, too.”
As for Wednesday’s concert — billed as an “American Musical Journey” — it featured a smorgasbord of songs dating back to the George Washington era and included a Western motif to start, which led into a set featuring music from the silent film era, and then songs like Yankee Doodle Dandy, themes from “Pink Panther” and “West Side Story,” and Seventy-Six Trombones from “The Music Man.”
The brass was accompanied by a percussionist, and two large screens projected images and video that tied into the themes of the night. And the concert wasn’t just about the music; it was long on background and perspective regarding the music, filled with humor and plenty of pizazz that delighted folks of all ages set up on the west side of the gym.
“I was kind of overwhelmed a little bit knowing that we finally made it and got where we needed to be to get them here and make sure the tickets were affordable, and I was super happy about how great they were,” Leberman said. “I thought it was just an amazing experience for everybody.”
