The Bella Vista Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce the August 7th program will be Brass Band Music of the Civil War. It will be presented by the Northwest Arkansas Heritage Brass Ensemble. The program will be presented at 7 PM at the Mildred Cooper Memorial Chapel and is free of charge.

Music played a very important role during the period of the Civil War. It was a way of boosting morale for the troops. It was also a method by which messages, both political and personal, were passed to the armies of both sides. It was common for units to take great pride in their unit's band, leading to competitions between regiments over which band was the best. It was not uncommon, during lulls in combat when the armies were in close proximity to each other, to engage in competitive playing and even playing together.

The Ensemble modeled themselves after the instrumentation of the 37th Illinois Regimental Band during the Civil War. The collective ensemble was originally put together by Mr. Jim Spillars and Mr. Paul Johnston to work up and perform music for the late Park Ranger Troy Banzhaf at Pea Ridge National Military Park. Most of its current members are also part of the Arkansas Winds Community Band. They have performed at numerous historical sites and at historic reenactments throughout our area.

Mr. Spillars, one of the originators of the ensemble, is a past president of the Washington County Historical Society and an active member of the Bella Civil War Round Table. He is also a veteran Civil War reenactor, docent at the Headquarters House Museum in Fayetteville, and a part-time engineer and conductor for the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with an undergraduate degree in education and a master’s in music education. He is currently the Director of Bands for the Farmington Public Schools System