Reviews
- Amy Cherry reviewed Athena's performance at the 2009 Brass Band Invitational in The Bridge Issue 115 starting on page 15. Amy plays cornet with Athena. The Brass Band Bridge is published by NABBA.
- The Bridge Issue 100 Susan Reigler wrote about Athena's performance at the IWBC in 2006; her article begins on page 9 (most of the text from it is also below). Susan plays tenor horn with Athena.
- The Bridge Issue 97 Lisa Galvin's article about Athena at the GABBF in 2005 begins on page 14. Lisa plays tenor horn with Athena.
- Highlights from the 2003 International Women's Brass Conference from the International Trumpet Guild, 2003
Athena Brass Band at IWBC, by Susan Reigler
The fifth International Women's Brass Conference was held at Illinois State University in Normal, June 14-17. The IWBC takes place every three years and was founded in 1992 by Susan Slaughter, principal trumpet of the St. Louis Symphony. Slaughter saw a need for an organization that would help mentor women brass players and she states the IWBC's goal as "… providing young brass musicians role models and to establish a network of support in pursuing a career as a brass musician."
There was no shortage of such models that week. The personnel of the ensembles giving concerts - the United States Joint Services Brass and Percussion Ensemble, Monarch Brass Ensemble, and several jazz combos - consisted mostly or exclusively of female musicians. The Saturday night Gala Concert was presented by a group with strong ties to NABBA.
Anita Cocker Hunt, NABBA president and conductor of the Cincinnati Brass Band, conducts the Athena Brass Band. The majority of the women in the band, who live in a dozen different states, play in other NABBA member bands, as well as in such organizations as the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own," the Houston Ballet Orchestra and the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Most hold the principal chairs in their ensembles. Many hold teaching positions in universities or as school band directors. Others work in music therapy, music publishing and recording and composing. And a few even make their livings in non-musical fields, including business, sociology, biology, journalism, and nuclear physics.
Athena is named after the Greek goddess of reason and protector of cities. She was supposed to have sprung fully formed from the head of her father, Zeus. (She was also credited, by the way, with inventing the trumpet.)
The Athena Band is a brainchild, too. In this case the parent was euphonium player Laura Lineberger of the Spires Brass Band and U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own," who, in 2003, contacted Hunt and started asking other player to join.
"I thought it would be great to have an all female brass band, modeled on the Monarch Brass Ensemble, except with British Band instrumentation to perform at the IWBC."
Athena made its debut at the 2003 IWBC. The band had its second outing at the Great American Brass Band festival in Danville, Kentucky last summer. And it got together for only the third time in June in order to play at Illinois State. (The original gala brass band for the IWBC was to be the Brass Band of Central Florida. But the conference was unexpectedly moved from Florida to Illinois and BBCF was unable to attend. So Athena got the nod.)
Lineberger mailed parts to personnel weeks ahead of the concert. Conductor Hunt e-mailed detailed rehearsal instructions so that Athenians could mark their parts. Then the members of the band, and a coterie of guest soloists, spent the day before and morning of the concert in a rehearsal marathon.
Ohio State Professor Emeritus, Paul Droste was invited to act as concert compere. He quipped to the audience in his introduction that it was natural that he should be asked to announce the Athena Brass Band Concert, since "…at one time, I conducted the largest all-male marching band in the world."
Droste was not the only possessor of a Y chromosome to join the all-female brass band on stage.
Soloists for the evening included Earle Louder, who performed the Stanley Boddington arrangement of "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" and Chris Jaudes, trumpet, who was front man for Allen Vizutti's "American Jazz Suite."
Other soloists for the evening were Pat Backhaus, cornet ("The Debutante" by Herbert Clarke), Lisa Galvin, tenor horn ("Masquerade" by Philip Sparke), and Stacy Baker, tuba ("Capriccio" by Rodney Newton).
Athena member and conference co-host Gail Robertson provided an arrangement of Rafael Mendez's "The Three Mendez" for euphonium trio and brass band. She was joined on euphonium by Lineberger and other conference co-host, Sharon Huff.
Athena kicked off the concert with Robert Redhead's "A Fanfare of Praise." Other works on the program were "Chariots" a jazzy medley of spirituals arranged by William Gordon and the marches "Assignment" by William Himes and "Athena" by Jacques Lafont.
The concert came to a rousing conclusion with Derek Ashmore's brass band arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Dance of the Tumblers."
Most of the members of the enthusiastic audience, which gave Athena a standing ovation, followed the band members to a local Bennigan's for post-concert libations and camaraderie.