Milwaukee Festival Brass
Founded in 1985, Milwaukee Festival Brass is an exciting brass ensemble made up of volunteer brass and percussion players from all over Southeastern Wisconsin. Led by its highly regarded Director, Mark A. Taylor, they have added their own unique flair to a repertoire ranging from classics to contemporary selections using traditional British Brass Band instruments.
As highly regarded musical ambassadors for the great and vibrant city of Milwaukee, the award-winning Milwaukee Festival Brass supports its strong cultural foundation and is dedicated to developing younger brass and percussion musicians. The band is dedicated to advancing and maintaining a successful brass band of the highest possible musical quality. As a nationally recognized organization, we will strive to satisfy the musical ideals of our members while simultaneously nurturing audience awareness and establishing community support.
The Band is a state of Wisconsin registered 501(C)3 non-profit organization as well as a 509(A)2 Public Charity and is run by a member elected Board of Directors.
The Director
Mark A. Taylor is the Music Director of the national champion Milwaukee Festival Brass. Dr. Taylor made his Wisconsin debut with the band in 2011 as a guest conductor and now serves as the ensemble’s full time artistic leader. A conductor, educator, and performer in demand throughout the Great Lakes region, Dr. Taylor served five years as director of bands and coordinator of ensembles at Loyola University, and was a member of the music education faculty for the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
Dr. Taylor has received degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University; He is also a graduate with his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree from the University of North Texas and his principal conducting teachers have included John P. Paynter, Stephen G. Peterson, Dennis Fisher, and Eugene Migliaro Corporon. Not only does this director conduct, but Dr. Taylor also performs as section percussionist with the Chicago Brass Band. He is a member of the National Band Association, College Music Society, College Band Directors National Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He, his wife, and son reside in Lake Forest, IL.
Whit Friday 2025
MILWAUKEE FESTIVAL BRASS TRIUMPHS AT WHIT FRIDAY MARCH CONTESTS
This past June, Milwaukee Festival Brass (MFB) achieved a lifelong dream for many of its members by traveling to and competing at the world-famous Whit Friday March contests in Saddleworth, UK, just outside the city of Manchester in the north of England. Founded in 1985, the band recently celebrated its 40th season of bringing the music and traditions of British-style brass banding to Milwaukee and all of southeastern Wisconsin. One of the oldest brass bands in continuous existence in the U.S., MFB models itself on the nearly two-century-old legacy of the best in British banding. While no stranger to the contesting traditions of brass bands, MFB had never before traveled as a band outside the confines of the United States.
For its first-ever international tour, the band chose as its destination one of the most storied banding events in all of Britain, the Whit Friday Marches. Named for the day on which the events are held each year – namely, the Friday after Pentecost (known as Whit Sunday in England) – a collection of eleven small villages hold band contests in their communities, all on the same day. On the day, bands will try to perform in competition in as many towns as they can possibly schedule themselves into, often sending runners to register them at a town’s contest desk before time runs out. The band had actually planned to travel to the 2020 Whit Friday marches, which were sadly cancelled due to the pandemic. The 2025 trip represented the band’s opportunity to reschedule their itinerary.
Members of Milwaukee Festival Brass, supplemented by players from other brass bands in our along with friends and families of performers, formed the traveling party and departed from the U.S. on Wednesday, June 11 on a motley assortment of international flight itineraries. Despite the travel spirits being somewhat unkind and causing nearly half the party to experience lost luggage, none of the instruments went astray. Upon arriving in Manchester, the group was joined by a few more English, Scottish and Dutch brass banders to complete the roster. The band immediately set out southward for the small village of Sandbach, home of the world famous Foden’s Brass Band. On arrival, the band piled into the historic band room for a clinic by Foden’s conductor, Michael Fowles – who, coincidentally, has also conducted the Kansas City-based Fountain City Brass Band at the last two NABBA Championships. Maestro Fowles listened attentively to the band’s rehearsal of its contest march for the next day and offered valuable insights, not only how to improve its technique and artistry, but also into the physicality and mindset of preparing for a contest performance. Grateful for the improvements suggested by Fowles and with the long travel day behind them, the band retraced its journey back to Manchester for a well-earned night’s rest.
The next morning members slept in and recovered from their journeys, as some members awaited word on the fates of their still-delayed luggage. Undeterred, the band gathered at its meeting point, Etihad Stadium on the eastern edge of Manchester (for soccer fans, the home of Man City), and the driver pointed the band’s motor coach eastbound toward the Saddleworth district of Lancashire. In the small town of Lees, the band’s first stop, MFB would have its first look at the decades old traditions and get to see some of the best brass bands in the world up close and personal. After registering, the band patiently waited behind Flowers, Black Dyke, and the British Marine Brass Band for its turn. When the signal came, the band stepped off and bravely navigated an immediate left turn that proved adventuresome. Nevertheless, the crowds cheered the appearance of an American band in its signature blue windbreakers with MFB’s signature logo. The parade / street marching portion of each town’s event is just a warm up to the true purpose of the event: standing in the town square and performing a contest march for a hidden judge nearby.
As soon as the band’s final notes rang through the air, the players made haste back to the bus and continued on to its next contests in the towns of Grotton, Lydgate, and Diggle, where the process would repeat. In each location, the band’s jackets and American accents sparked conversations with locals who were delighted that a brass band had traveled from as far away as the U.S. to come to their contest! At the band’s last competition of the evening at Diggle, the experience and confidence gained from the previous iterations proved valuable, as the American band earned the award for Best Lower Section band in the contest.
After a late night return and another slow morning to recover, the band made its way to the mining community of Slaithwaite and the cozy confines on the town’s band room. There the band held a rehearsal of its own, made a quick jaunt down into the valley’s high street for dinner, and then returned to the hall for a joint rehearsal with the Linthwaite Band. The band hall, complete with its own peformance salon and an adjoining pub (!), soon began to fill with audience members eager to hear both the local band as well as the American guests. After players and attendees slaked their pre-concert thirst, the performance began with a set by the Linthwaite Band. At intermission, the stage changed hands, and the MFB players presented a fantastic set of American and British-inspired selections. After an exchange of appreciation presentations from both bands and their hosts, the two bands combined for a performance of “Under the Sea” from “The Little Mermaid”, then concluded with a stirring rendition of “Highland Cathedral.” The post-concert celebrations continued in the pub until deep into the evening, whereupon the band boarded its bus for a final journey back to Manchester.
Having heard stories of the Whit Friday marches recounted second-hand, and having viewed video clips online and in films like “Brassed Off,” MFB’s members had long awaited the chance to experience this storied band tradition for themselves. This past summer they finally were able to earn themselves a new descriptor when introducing the band back home; “the internationally award-winning Milwaukee Festival Brass!”
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS
President – Tyler Burmeister
Secretary – Al Floeter
Treasurer – Jacob Sellers
BOARD MEMBERS
David Grace
Breanna Staten
Business Manager
Tom Robertson - trobertson@mfbrass.org
Equipment Manager
Marty Kuphall