A unique worldwide claim has been made by the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band from Red Wing in Minnesota that, despite knowing that they may not quite be the best brass band in the world, they may well be the brainiest!

Degrees

More than half the band members hold advanced musical degrees, whilst an entire section has Ph.D degrees in scientific fields. Meanwhile, their euphonium players, Dr Brian Borovsky and Dr Glen Newton are perhaps the cleverest of the lot.

Brian earned his Ph.D in physics from the University of Minnesota and is now an Associate Professor of Physics with an active research programme in nanotechnology.

Meanwhile, Glen graduated from Michigan State University with a mathematics degree and from the University of Iowa with a Ph. D. in computer science. After teaching computer science at Washington State University, he is now a computer security architect for Unisys Corporation in Roseville, Minnesota.

Little music training

Strangely, although both have been active in music throughout their lives, the only formal training either has had is a class Glen took in jazz band arranging and a class Brian took in music theory and ear training when they were undergraduates.

Brain power

Despite this seemingly huge musical drawback, Brian explained to 4BR the application of their scientific training to their music:

"Science and music complement each other very well. They exercise different parts of the brain, and they both offer ways to transcend everyday experience.

Many scientific principles are involved in the production of music. Physicists like to study time itself, and I would say that when it comes to musical expression, every nuanced microsecond counts!"

Perform together

The enjoyment the duo gets from playing with the Sheldon Theatre Band is second to none, and the pair will come together at a forthcoming concert to give perhaps the highest IQ level performance ever of a duet arrangement of ‘Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms.’

Not easy!>

However, as they added — even the best brains need a bit of help: "We worked out how to play the notes quite quickly – but actually playing them is a different matter. That doesn’t come easy – and we have to practice hard like everyone else!"