Allegheny Brass Band to perform Saturday in Ellwood City

ELLWOOD CITY − The Allegheny Brass Band is coming to the Ellwood City Community Plaza at 7 p.m. Saturday with its British-style brass music.

Group members have been at the plaza a number of times, and are glad to be back.

Business Manager Jim Muchoney, of Sewickley, said they are happy to add the plaza to their busy summer schedule.

"It's a great venue with lots of seating, and people really turn out," he said. "We've lost some members, and we've gained some members, and we are ready to play."

The band plays its own versions of jazz and big band tunes, Broadway melodies, marches and light classics.

"We are playing some Beatles songs and songs from musicals. When we play a concert, there is something for everyone," Muchoney said.

In keeping with the tradition of the British brass bands, the group features flugelhorn, euphonium, tenor and baritone horns, cornets, trombones, tubas and percussion. The band members are musicians from all walks of life, from mechanical engineers, to accountants, to doctors, to teachers, college students to retirees, and everything in between.

A 1997 graduate of Lincoln High School, Justin Miller, the assistant band director at Lincoln High School, is a member of the group. Muchoney said members come from western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Directed by Stephen Baldanzi, director of bands at North Allegheny Intermediate High School, the band rehearses and performs year-round, including stops at the Pittsburgh Veterans Hospital.

"Our motto is 'We Bring the Band to You,' and we particularly like to play outdoors," Muchoney said.

The mission of the Allegheny Brass Band, an ensemble of volunteer musicians, is to entertain and educate the public about the instrumentation and style of the British-style brass bands, and to encourage a greater appreciation of British and American brass bands traditions.

The Allegheny Brass Band was formed in 1983, and by 1984, it was making music in the western Pennsylvania area.

"We enjoy playing and look forward to a good time in the plaza," Muchoney said.

In case of rain, the concert will be moved to the Lincoln High School Auditorium.

This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: Allegheny Brass Band to perform this week in Ellwood City