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Music Director /  Bass Tuba,  Pete Palan  Tel: 215.657.1838  e-mail: ppalan@mac.com Musical Sample (c. 1.4MB - 4 min.) Engagements		Business Manager / Bariton / Posaune,  Len Forlenza  Tel: 609.801.0248  e-mail: forlenza3@comcast.net Band History Links
The Philadelphia German Brass Band would be pleased to play for your next event. Please contact us for more information.
Please visit our NEW WEBSITE http://philadelphiagermanbrassband.googlepages.com/

The Philadelphia German Brass Band has been playing continuously for over 70 years. Founded in 1935 by Fritz Sauter, the group has performed extensively on the East Coast from Connecticut to Virginia in such cities as Greenwich, New York, Trenton, Princeton, Allentown, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Wilmington, Baltimore, Salisbury, Frederick and Fort Belvoir. Performance venues have ranged from formal concerts at the Robin Hood Dell in Philadelphia's beautiful Fairmount Park to liturgical services at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in the heart of historic downtown Philadelphia. They have provided authentic German Brass Band music for Oktoberfests, Heritage Festivals and Schlachtfests at all of the German Clubs in and around the Delaware Valley. In addition, large audiences have enjoyed them at New Jersey's Garden State Arts Center as well as Action Park, Hunter Mountain in New York and the U.S. Army Base at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. An even wider audience was reached through a live broadcast from Allentown's WFMZ radio station.  When Herr Sauter retired, Alois Haidl, a native of Passau in Bavaria, took on the leadership of the Blaskapelle. Herr Haidl expanded the repertoire as well as the size of the ensemble. They have performed with as many as 25 musicians. Although the composition of the band varies with the type of event, 8 to 12 musicians and a vocalist is the norm. The band is now under the musical direction of Peter Wilhelm Palan the blaskapelle's fine tuba player. Len Forlenza is the group's business manager and baritonist / trombonist.

The musicians of the Philadelphia German Brass Band are drawn from the ranks of some of the finest freelance players in the Philadelphia area. Some are working professional musicians and others are highly talented amateurs. They bring with them a wide range of performance experience from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra to various symphony orchestras, chamber music groups, musical theater, jazz, rock and even metal bands.

One of the chief goals of the Philadelphia German Brass Band is to preserve the heritage of the old German style of brass band music. In keeping with this goal, the band has an active repertoire of music dating from the 19th through the 20th centuries.

In this new millennium, the Philadelphia German Brass Band will continue its efforts toward preserving German folk musical culture and expand its performance range even further.