Introducing Santa Barbara’s Newest Street Brass Band
Brasscals Make Big Debut at National Festival
The Brasscals, a 13-member street brass band founded in Santa Barbara in early 2022, has just returned from HONK! West Fest, a globally recognized street brass-band festival in Seattle, WA. Not even existing two years ago, the band is now playing in national festivals, as well as in Santa Barbara and Ventura.
The formation of the Brasscals started with a bike ride and an ad on Craigslist. Maria Cincotta and Antoine Descos met at NightCycles in Santa Barbara, now known as Bike Delights, a community of DeLight-minded cyclists on a mission to explore the hidden treasures of Santa Barbara. They both shared the fact that they both had connections in Europe, played the alto sax, and wanted to start a brass band.
When Cincotta had to go to Italy, she lost touch with Descos but decided to put an ad on Craigslist in an attempt to find him and start the band — the rest is history. Their first name was the Brassholes, but they wanted something a little more family-friendly as the band has members that range in age from 19 to 80 years old, as well as something more playful, so they decided on the Brasscals.
