It all started with a single cry when Bob Ross saw the meagre light of his frugal home in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1954. Now, 50 years later, it's the audience that never fails to be carried away to frenetic cheers by him and his ensemble "Blechschaden".
From his youth, Bob Ross was fascinated by the unusual music of the miners' brass bands, which have a long tradition in his homeland. Like football teams in the Bundesliga here at home, individual amateur bands there compete fiercely in the Brassbrands' Champions League to perhaps one day play in the World Cup at London's Royal Albert Hall.
In Germany, Bob Ross' colleagues in the Munich Philharmonic were infected by the lively Scotsman's enthusiasm and love of this extraordinary music. Since 1984, "Blechschaden" has been delighting audiences worldwide under his Scottish direction.
Blechschaden has already been awarded the German record prize "Echo Klassik" twice, in 1999 and 2002, for the CDs "Brassomania" and "Blechschaden in Blech".
On trumpet 3 Tyroleans, Erich Rinner, Franz Unterrainer and Markus Rainer, recognizable by the Tyrolean flag attached to the desk. Also on trumpet is solo trumpeter Guido Segers from Belgium, the country invented by the English only to annoy the French. They are reinforced by Bernhard Peschl from Lower Bavaria and the "Blues Brothers", Dany Bonvin and Benjamin Appel, on the trombones of the Last Judgement. On the euphonium, a typical instrument of Scottish brass bands, Matthias Fischer can be admired, who can also be used as a trombonist and pianist if required, and plays virtuously on the garden hose. Joining him are Americans David Moltz (horn) and Tom Walsh (tuba).
The ensemble is rounded out by American-Lower Bavarian mix Arnold Riedhammer on drums.
The ensemble also attracted supraregional attention through its equally energetic and vociferous support at the home games of Spielvereinigung Unterhaching in the first Bundesliga. Thanks to an appeal by Bob Ross, not only Blechschaden but 300 other brass players supported the club. The bond with Unterhaching went so far that Blechschaden picked up his first "Echo" not at the live broadcast on ZDF, but at a Bundesliga match during the break in front of 15,000 football fans. So it is still certain: Blechschaden has been able to maintain his place in the premier league of musical entertainment.
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http://www.hanau.de/va/veranstaltungskalender/078608/index.html
