River City Brass celebrates anniversaries, honors supporters

When River City Brass artistic and general director James Gourlay, a native of Scotland, was invited to be a guest conductor for the Pittsburgh band in 2010, he immediately fell in love with the city.

“I kept a video diary. I would go into Giant Eagle or a barbershop. I don’t think they had ever seen a Scotsman. Everywhere I went people would ask about the camera. I would say, ‘I’m here to conduct the River City Brass Band. Have you heard of that?’ ” he says.

“They often said they had, or, ‘I’ve been to their concerts. Those guys are great,’ ” Gourlay recalls.

“I thought, if they like that kind of music in this community, I’m going to like them,” says Gourlay, 63, of Mt. Washington.

Then a freelance director, tuba player and instructor in Europe, Gourlay says the band’s chair told him audience members had voted him their favorite director. He returned to Pittsburgh with a full-time job.

“I thought, ‘You can’t really let those folks down,’ ” he says.

Gourlay is marking his 10th anniversary conducting the band.

And the band will celebrate its 40th season in 2021.

Crossing the pond, becoming a citizen

Gourlay recalls his elementary school’s janitor/amateur musician lining up students to teach them music.

“I was the tallest and got the tuba. After about three lessons, we knew four or five notes and we were in the town brass band. He (William J. Ross) said, ‘It’s OK, lads, when you see a note you recognize, play it,’ ” he says.

Ross recently died, soon after turning 100 and receiving his celebratory telegram from Queen Elizabeth, Gourlay says.

“I was the first person ever to go to university in my family. It was the music that led me there. I would have left school at 14 and gone down the (coal) mine,” he says.

In 2018, Gourlay and his wife, Lea Havis, became American citizens.

“I think when you live in a society you have to be a member of that society. Being able to vote in local and national elections is important to me. We live in interesting political times. No use to complain if you do not vote. That was a driver,” he says.

Still teaching

“I’ve always been an educator, since about age 20, in Birmingham, England. Professors used to come in and throw me out, saying, ‘What are you doing here, son?’ ” he says, laughing.

Gourlay is proud of the academic music programs River City Brass offers.

Founded in 1986, the River City Youth Brass Band in Avonworth offers brass and percussion instruction to 40-60 students in grades seven through 12. A newer program, River City Brass School of Brass at Penn Hills, is for beginners, Gourlay says. “It’s a joy to see.”

The children learn on colorful plastic tubas and trumpets that are “pretty much indestructible,” he says.

“Their wee faces when we hand them a bright red trombone and say, ‘You can take it home,’ ” is its own reward, Gourlay says.

Some families can’t afford an instrument, and Penn Hills students receive free tuition; students outside the district pay a small fee and scholarships are available, he says.

Honoring service

Gourlay takes pride in the band’s tenure.

“At the beginning of my tenure here, my wife and I thought we would be here for three months — the company was in such dire financial straits,” he says. It started to turn the corner, debts were eradicated, a surplus built.

He credits a lot of that success to former board member Donald Jacobson.

Jacobson, a senior vice president with Federated Hermes Inc., and his wife, Annette Jacobson, who is associate dean for undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering, are honorees for this year’s Red, White & Brass Gala.

The planned May 23 event at the Rivers Casino will start the band’s 40th anniversary celebration.

“It was a great experience,” Donald Jacobson says of his 2011-16 board tenure.

“I’ve stayed involved with the band as more of a consumer of their music. What I love about the band is, to me, it’s more than a brass band. What makes it special is that it is an organization that improves quality of life for thousands in the community,” he says.

Jacobson cites low ticket prices, school programs and Gourlay’s leadership in making the band a community asset.

A former tuba player in middle and high school, he was asked to replace a Federated colleague on the band’s board.

“I was there for support with Don, more of a fan and person who liked to be in the audience and support (the band) that way,” Annette Jacobson says.

A Latrobe native, she says she and family members enjoyed the band’s performances at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg.

“For us it was a fun, family experience,” she says. “When (Gourlay) plays a piece of music, he will tell you its name and the history behind it. I find that interesting. For Don and me, seeing the richness of the organization, because it touches so many people, we want to be supportive, financially and in other ways.”