Maryland's Oldest Award-Winning Brass Band
Inspiring Audiences, Engaging Young Players, Performing Locally & Nationally
Our Mission
The Rockville Brass Band seeks to engage local audiences and artists with its innovative programming, to inspire the next generation of brass players through outreach, to represent Maryland at regional and national festivals and to promote and develop an appreciation for the unique sound of brass bands in local performances and British-style brass band competitions.
To arrange an audition please contact us at president@rockvillebrassband.org
The Rockville Brass Band is supported in part by...
Rachel E. Zephir Director
Rachel Zephir is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting from the University of Michigan where she studies with Jason Fettig, formerly the conductor of The President’s Own. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Bands at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt Maryland. At Roosevelt, she directed four Concert Bands, Pep Band, Jazz Ensemble, and oversees the chamber music program. During her tenure the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band were selected to perform at the Maryland Music Educators State Conference in 2017, the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Regional Conference at Yale University in 2018, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) National Band Directors Consortium Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in March of 2019. The Wind Ensemble Chamber Winds were selected to perform at The Midwest Clinic in December of 2019.
Rachel also spent three years teaching with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s El Sistema based program OrchKids. At OrchKids, she was the Brass Department Chair, and taught Musicianship and Ear Training classes.
Rachel was the Music Director of the Westminster Symphony Orchestra; a combined effort between McDaniel College and Carroll Community College in Westminster Maryland. She was an adjunct faculty member at both McDaniel College and Carroll Community College teaching studio trumpet and the Brass Ensemble.
Rachel is currently the Music Director of the Rockville Brass Band. The ensemble has been invited to perform at major brass band venues such as the Gettysburg Brass Band Festival, the Dublin (OH) Festival of Brass, the Mid Atlantic Brass Band Festival at Rowan University, and most recently the 2024 Pershing’s Own Tuba Euphonium Conference.
In December 2022, she was selected as a conducting fellow for the Reynolds Conducting Institute at the 76th Midwest Clinic featuring clinicians H. Robert Reynolds and Michael Haithcock.
Rachel is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She has degrees in Trumpet, Music Education, and Wind Conducting. She also recently completed a Master of Music in Music Education from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Jermaine B. Fryer Assistant Director
Jermaine B. Fryer has established himself as a performer, conductor, and educator over the years throughout the D.C. Metropolitan area. He has achieved several years of private teaching low brass, coaching brass sections, and leading wind ensemble sectionals, rehearsals, and performances. In 2008, Jermaine performed with Oxon Hill High School, his alma mater, as they toured China for the 2008 Beijing Olympics under the tutelage of Walter Harley and Professor Emeritus John Wakefield of the University of Maryland.
Jermaine plays trombone, euphonium, and tuba and has backgrounds in classical and jazz music. He has performed as a soloist and band member of many ensembles in the Prince George's County area, including the Fort Washington Symphonic Winds, University of Maryland Community Band, University of Maryland Wind Orchestra, Rockville Brass Band, Category 5 Wind Ensemble and UMBC Brass Quintet. Jermaine has performed in venues such as the Kennedy Center, Dekelboum Concert Hall, venues throughout Beijing and Xi’an, and colleges across America.
Throughout his studies, Jermaine has also been privileged to conduct the University of Maryland Brass Ensemble, the Rockville Brass Band, the UMBC Wind Ensemble and their Symphony Orchestra as the assistant conductor. He has studied euphonium with Dr. Elizabeth Palmer, Dr. Steve Kellner, and Brian Kaufman and bass trombone with Patrick Crossland. Jermaine has studied years of conducting from his mentors Dr. E. Michael Richards and Dr. Harlan Parker. His Bachelor's of Arts in Euphonium Performance was received from UMBC and he received both his double Master's in Music Performance and Master's in Music Education with an emphasis in wind conducting from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in 2021.
Press
Second Section Winner
North American Brass Band Association
2017 & 2018
Overall 2nd Place
Dublin Festival of Brass
2023
""The Rockville Brass Band is a great community of people who come together to create incredible music"
-Current Member
“The concert was engaging from start to finish. The players were incredibly responsive and the conductor led the ensemble with musical nuance"
-Audience Member