Roger Menning || Chicago Brass Band

Roger is one of the co-founders of the Chicago Brass Band. He started playing trombone, baritone, and piano at the age of nine. In high school he was a member of the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, and when he graduated, he received awards for Best Male Instrumentalist, Best Male Vocalist, and Best Male Actor. He completed his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he majored in Music Composition, and minored in Theory and Brass Performance. As a freshman, he was accepted into the University Wind Ensemble, where he remained as bass trombonist for four years. In the jazz band, he also doubled on tuba. He was a graduate assistant, teaching music theory, and was the founder of the Music Students Advisory Council. He is also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity.

After college, Roger moved to Chicago, where he joined a Renaissance Consort for a year, playing sackbut, recorder, crumhorn, and voice. He then took a break from music, and was employed as a printed circuit designer, and later, integrated circuit designer, piano technician, and private brass instrument instructor. He returned to music in 1992, and joined the Crystal Lake Community Band, where he was a featured soloist on trombone and euphonium.

In 1996, he learned about brass bands on the internet and, looking for a more challenging ensemble, decided to start a new brass band. He founded the Prairie Brass Band in 1997, which saw steady growth since its founding, winning the Challenge Section in its first year, and the Honors Section at the NABBA contest in 2002. In PBB, Roger played tenor horn, tenor & bass trombone, and Eb Bass. He was also a member of the Prairie Brass Quintet, which won numerous awards at NABBA small ensemble contests.

Roger left PBB in 2002 to help start the Chicago Brass Band. Roger was on the Board of Directors of CBB from its beginning until 2007, and was the president of the Board for two years. For the 2008-9 season he is the manager and coach of the Chicago Brass Band Players, of which he has been a member since its founding in 2002. In 2006 he was a soloist with the band, and in 2007, he won 2nd place in the NABBA Low Brass Slow Melody Solo competition on tenor horn.

Roger makes a living designing artwork layouts of integrated circuits at Peregrine Semiconductor in Palatine, and teaches low brass lessons on the side.