Dominant 7 at the Inauguration - click image for larger version

“Dominant 7”, a Northern State University trumpet group, performed at the Inauguration ceremony of South Dakota Governor Michael Rounds on January 6th 2007.

The group performed Movement I of Johann Ernst Altenburg’s Concerto for 7 Trumpets and Timpani for the processional, which began the inauguration ceremony for Governor Rounds at the state capitol rotunda in Pierre. The group made its ITG debut in June 2006, performing before Arturo Sandoval at the ITG Convention at Rowan University. The group tours every summer, and is known for its mature, resonant sound, original arrangements, enthusiastic approach and memorized sets. (The group performs its pieces memorized almost exclusively, no small feat for busy music students involved in NSU orchestra, band, jazz ensemble and the “world’s greatest college pep band”!) “Dominant 7” has put out a CD entitled “One”, available on the NSU website.

The group is directed by Dr. Grant Manhart, Associate Professor of High Brass at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and its  repertoire consists of arrangements by Manhart and students in the group. The Dominant 7 tours to regional schools promoting themselves, their university, and acting upon their mission statement, which is simply: “Making band instruments cool”. Repertoire for the group comes from such diverse sources as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the New Orleans band Galactic, Stanton Moore, transcriptions of orchestral brass excerpts, bebop and swing standards, and even an arrangement of the Hindemith Trumpet Sonata with a rhythm section! The group recently performed at the University of Wisconsin Spring 2006 Varsity Band concert, where they electrified over 20,000 in three nights.

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Dominant 7