Oakland University Brass Band

The Oakland University Brass Band, formed in September of 2009, enjoys the distinction of being one of the few collegiate brass bands in the country. The members of the group come from across the state of Michigan, as well as the US and Canada. This past summer, the band was one of only ten brass bands from around the world to perform in the First Division competition at the World Music Contest (WMC) in Kerkrade, Netherlands on July 11, 2026. This competition is literally the Olympics of the band world which occurs once every four years. Among their other international accolades, the band was named the University Section winner of the 2021 Kapitol Cory Online Brass Band Championships. In 2019 and 2018, it swept all three categories of Best March, Best Slow Melody and Best Major Work of the Dublin (Ohio) Festival of Brass. In 2018, adjudicator Steven Mead commented that “it was wonderful to hear such an authentic ‘English’ sound to the ensemble - rich, textured and homogeneous and the performance of Essence of Time in particular was a joy.” In 2015 the band accepted an invitation to travel to England to perform in the Butlin’s National Mineworkers Open Brass Band Festival & Competition. While there, the band was awarded 2nd place in their division and now holds the distinction of being the highest placing American band in the history of the competition. This invitation was extended as a result of having won the First Section of the North American Brass Band Association Championships in 2014 in Grand Rapids, MI. In June of 2015, the band performed at the Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky where it gave three featured concerts.