Minnesota Brass will launch its 78th summer season on Friday evening, May 3 and continuing Saturday, May 4. Rehearsal is scheduled from 6 -10 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday. Both days the corps will be at Silverbell Area Learning Center, 2120 Silver Bell Road, Eagan, Minnesota.
New and returning members alike are encouraged to attend! A few helpful hints:
All members should come prepared to move and play! Wear appropriate attire for athletic activities, bring your water bottle and be prepared to spend time outside so wear your layers.
Brass members should bring music stands and mouthpiece if you have them.
Percussion members should bring sticks and practice pads.
Instruments and guard equipment are provided.
Lunch is on your own on Saturday; please bring your own or be ready to purchase something nearby.
MBI Souvenirs including BRAND NEW merchandise will be available for purchase on Saturday!
In their second competitive season, MBI Winds finished in 4th place at WGI Winds World Championships. Among the 22 members, 7 staff members and support staff are siblings Jenna, Erin, and Carter Schunk.
This year is Erin and Jenna’s first season with the group and Carter’s second. Erin was the featured piano player on the floor, Jenna taught choreography, and Carter helped drive the group to Dayton, OH. When asked what they enjoy most about participating in MBI Winds with their family, Erin says, “Honestly, being taught by my sister Jenna is one of the highlights I have coming to MBI Winds.” Carter added, “I always loved performing with and teaching and teaching with them very much. It is great to see and spend time with them in the marching arts world.”
Before joining MBI Winds, all three Schunk siblings have a robust marching history, including 728 Cadets, River Valley Percussion Theatre, and River Valley Winterguard. Carter marched trumpet with MBI Sound Sport and the Colts Drum & Bugle Corps while Jenna marched in the colorguard with the Sacramento Mandarins Drum & Bugle Corps.
The Schunks shared passion for music goes back further than their high school marching band days. Jenna explains, “Music has been a big part of our family since us kids were born.” Carter says, “Our parents were both band kids, and they even met each other in the Princeton High School marching band.” Erin adds, “All of my siblings have been involved with WGI, summer marching band, and DCI in one way or another. And it is a huge part of our lives!”
When asked what their favorite part of participating in MBI Winds is, all three siblings agreed that MBI Winds is an affordable organization that provides musicians of all ages a wonderful opportunity to perform. Jenna explains, “I love being around the wonderful people who make up the membership and staff of MBI Winds. MBI Winds is a blast and I would recommend anyone interested to come check it out next year! I also love the MBI organization in general and the sense of family that surrounds it.”
As is part of the Minnesota Brass tradition, MBI Winds is an independent group and is open to all ages. If you have marching experience and play any of these instruments, we want to hear from you!
With the announcement of the combined DCI/DCA finals for the coming years, Minnesota Brass intends to take the competitive field at Lucas Oil Stadium. The last few SoundSport years have been great for member engagement, but we’ve run a skeleton crew. Many people did too many jobs: Transportation & Electronics, Executive Director & Front Ensemble Tech, Director & Prop Specialist. To maximize both member experience and competitive success for 2024, we need to rebuild the foundation of our organization: volunteers.
The Minnesota Brass Board of Directors has set the Annual Meeting for 7 PM on Sunday, November 5th on Zoom. The Annual Meeting is open to all who wish to attend. For meeting details and Zoom information, please refer to the MBI Meetings calendar or get in touch with me.
Upon the conclusion of the meeting, the Zoom meeting will remain open for those who wish to linger and chat.
