MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Sunday night, the Marquette Regional History Center held its final public event of 2025 with a performance by the Holiday Brass Choir. Local brass players came together to play an hour of well known and unique holiday pieces for a large audience.
The ten-piece brass choir, featuring a percussionist this year, is made up entirely of volunteers. Kicking off one of the most anticipated weeks of the year, Brass Choir Organizer and tuba player Tom Bronken says it’s an especially busy time for musicians.
“There are a lot of concerts starting after Thanksgiving, right on through the holidays,” he said.
The Brass Choir has been playing these arranged concerts since 2004, with good reason to continue the tradition in the same space.
“We could play probably in a different venue, but it wouldn’t be the same,” said Bronken. “This place is perfect, the acoustics are very nice and the audience is right there, so we see their faces and can tell they’re enjoying it.”
Through the evening, each tune was prefaced with a brief history, all derived from Bronken’s 702-paged book of carols, exaggerating just how many versions of songs have been built around celebrating this time of year.
“It’s a long running joke, but it’s appropriate for the history center” he explained. “The goal is to try and have people listen to the narration between hand, but actually want to listen to it, so I try to make it entertaining.”
More events coming in 2026 at the MRHC can be found at marquettehistory.org.
