Welcome!

Meet Torsby Brass and enjoy the sight and sound of thirty brass players with their shining instruments. We want to share a musical experience with you. Whether the music is solemn, happy or majestic; our ambition is to play it in a way that it reaches the hearts of our listeners. Torsby, situated right in the middle of the Swedish district of Värmland, is a village surrounded by deep forests, beautiful lakes and miles of wilderness. The community has about 13 000 inhabitants but since the surface is very big you will find in average only 4 people per km2. From this part of Sweden thousands of people left their homeland during the end of the 19th century with a hope to find a better future in America.

What is a Brass band?

In a brass band there are no clarinets, saxophones or other reed - only brass instruments and percussion. The first brass bands were formed among miners and factory workers in England during the middle of the 1900 century. When William Booth founded the Salvation Army he realized that bands would be a useful help in gathering people in the streets. Since then other churches followed the example and started bands within their congregations.

History

The story of Torsby Brass goes back to 1965 when the Missions Church congregation (Swedish Covenant Church) in Torsby decided to form a youth band as a part of their work among youngsters. The activity was very successful and through the years many young musician have been trained in the brass band. Some of them have gone further to a professional carrier as musicians.

The Music

The band plays a lot of different music depending on the occasion. We play hymn tunes and sacred music in services; folk music, classical music, soloist performances and original works in Concert Halls. And in an outdoor concert we like to entertain the audience with marches and light music from films and musicals.

Competitions

Torsby Brass has taken part in several competitions for Brass Bands. Both in 2005 and 2006 the band was placed no 1 in Swedish Brass Band Festival B-section. In 2005 the band was the Swedish representative in World Music Contest, Kerkrade, Holland.

USA-tour October 2007

Thanks to personal relations between Torsby and Lindsborg, Kansas, Torsby Brass has been invited to take part in “Svensk Hyllningsfest” which is held in Lindsborg every other year (in 2007 11-14 October). Therefore the band is planning a two week USA-tour with visits in Princeton, Moline, Swedesburg, Kansas City, Lindsborg, Topeka, Stanton and ending up in Chicago.