Submitted Photo The Brass Band of Minot will perform Christmas season music at its concert on Sunday.

The Brass Band of Minot is getting in the holiday mood and celebrating British-style brass band history with its concert, “Music of the Christmas Season,” on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Minot State University’s Ann Nicole Nelson Hall.

North Dakota’s only British-style brass band, the band is directed by Wayne Schempp and consists of brass and percussion players from Minot and other communities in northwest North Dakota who share a love of brass band music.

Special guest vocalist Terri Aldrich will join the band for two pieces written by former band member Wally Ost. In addition to her work as a vocal performer, Aldrich is a long-time member of the board of the Minot Council on the Arts and the owner of the Children’s Music Academy of Minot. One of the pieces, “Dreamer,” features lyrics by Aldrich’s daughter, Esther, while the other, “The Magic That Is Christmas” features a poem by William “Whitey” Powell.

The band will play several pieces by William Gordon, a Salvation Army Band composer and conductor. In “Christmas Bolero” and “Christmas Canon,” Gordon weaves together familiar Christmas tunes with classical music favorites. “Christmas Canon” combines Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” and “The First Noel.” “Christmas Bolero” combines Ravel’s “Bolero” and “the Little Drummer Boy.” “Still, Still, Still” is a traditional arrangement of an old Austrian Christmas Carol on the surface but still contains Gordon’s trademark of weaving together different sounds.

Two popular holiday tunes will provide a jazzy change of pace. William Himes’ arrangement of “White Christmas” has a smoky jazz styling, and Alan Fernie’s arrangement of John Marks’ “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” gives a jazzy twist to the classic.

The concert will conclude with the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah,” one of the band’s favorite pieces and a great fanfare to end a concert.

Brass Band of Minot concerts are free and open to the public though cash and check donations are very welcome.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The band’s 2022-2032 concert season will continue with concerts on Feb. 5 and April 2.