Saxton's Cornet Band
Saxton's Cornet Band is a completely authentic, mid-nineteenth century American brass band. The band uses actual music of the era on period mid-nineteenth-century instruments and emphasizes authentic and accurate performances at every event. Saxton's Cornet Band, which formed in 1989, performs such musical activities as concerts, dress parades, grand military balls, lecture recitals, militia musters and battle re-enactments.
The band is directed in the field by William Gay and in rehearsal by P.E. Burgess. Burgess is a doctoral candidate in musicology at the University of Kentucky and holds a master of music degree in conducting. Gay has been a Civil War historian for more than 16 years and founded the Americus Brass Band (Fourth Georgia) in 1976.
With 35 to 40 performances a year, Saxton's Cornet Band has been busy entertaining and educating audiences throughout America. Performances have taken the band to Colorado, Kansas, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.
Saxton's Cornet Band is no stranger to the film industry. It made its film debut in a Ted Turner production called ``Gettysburg: The Killer Angels.'' The group also did the soundtrack on the ``Laura Clay Story.'' Many people in Danville will remember the band as the group in ``Pharaoh's Army,'' a film made in Forkland.