Get into the holiday spirit with a performance by the Fort Point Garrison Brass Band.

The second program will be a concert within the Museum’s historic Courtroom A. The Fort Point Garrison Brass Band (FPGBB) will perform holiday music beginning at 1 p.m. Their Christmas portfolio includes a variety of 19th century carols. Many of these were of English origin but made their way across the ocean to America. Families would have sung around the hearth or at the piano (or even soldiers around the campfire).

The FPGBB was formed in 2005. Part of the Band’s mission is to portray an authentic 19th Century American Brass Band and educate audiences on the history of bands, instruments, musicians, and their daily lives during this era. To this end the Band has performed for school programs, Civil War dances and reenactments.

Music provided by bands during the Civil War did much to help the cause. The bands performed concerts, played for troops on the march, provided music for balls and dances, and had an important role in military ceremonies. During battles, the bandsmen often assisted the surgeons in the field hospitals and as stretcher bearers on the battlefield. The FPGBB performs on period brass horns, all of which are over 100 years old. The concert is sponsored by the Cypress Lawn Heritage Foundation.