They were still school pupils when it all started: the five musicians got to know each other at the grammar school in Markneukirchen – and started to rejuvenate local folk music in a crazy and attractive manner in 2011. They have now become extremely successful at what they do – and handle TV recordings and about 70 performances every year.

“It all started on a Wednesday evening in January,” they recall. Brezel Brass was launched because the five members wanted to invent “pop folk music and folky pop music”. Their aim was to “rejuvenate our local music in a cliché-free, hand-made and honest way”.

Julia Seidel (jazz and Western guitar, e-bass, horn) Stella Maria Voigt (soprano and alto saxophone), the brothers Robert (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Michael Seidel (trombone, baritone) and Sebastian Wildgrube (double bass, trumpet, Styrian harmonica, accordion, cajon) were on the look-out for the original ingredients of folk music and combined them, among other things, with rock, pop, jazz and classical elements. Anybody who has experienced a performance by Brezel Brass will know that this experiment produces a breathtaking sound experience.

The Brezel Brass players originally just wanted to perform for their own families, at weddings or private celebrations. After four CDs, performances at folk music shows at MDR (Central German broadcaster) or ZDF (national TV broadcaster) and countless appearances during the last few years, a growing fan community agrees with their motto:

“Do you like folk music? Then Brezel Brass is just the group for you. If you don’t like it, then you should come!”

Michael Seidel explains the name. “Brezeln is the Vogtland dialect expression for “jamming” or playing music together without any constraints.”

One thing is absolutely certain. The members of Brezel Brass are all children born in Musicon Valley in the Upper Vogtland area. The orchestras, in which they played, the music schools that they attended, the artistic emphasis at the grammar school in Markneukirchen and the brass band classes there have all left their mark on the group and enabled them to feel at home with each other. All the members of Brezel Brass play more than one instrument: about 15 musical instruments are used on stage during any concert – and the group members switch from one to another as quickly as they change their musical styles. Audiences can often hardly believe their ears: is this a Czech polka dance or a rock ‘n’ roll piece?

At the end, it is clear to all that Brezel Brass has reinvented and modernised folk music and restored its depth and vitality.