Praha Outdoor Performance Stage

This Finnish band will perform a free concert on August 2 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at The Broz Event Venue Ameriikan Poijat (Boys of America), Finnish American Brass Septet, was founded in 1990. They’ve been asked to play performances in some rather unusual settings, such as in an ice arena, in fishing boats on the Perhojoki river, on a raft in an abandoned mine, at Finnish border defense installations, at a McDonnell-Douglas military aircraft plant, in a Wisconsin cow pasture, on a Florida beach, at an instrument museum, in a barn, and in a one room school house. It’s not that they have exclusively sought out bizarre venues, but the a seven-piece group is very mobile, and the Finnish brass music we celebrate seems to have drawn us off the beaten path. Made up of Midwestern musicians, some of Finnish descent, we have been sharing the charm of the old Finnish brass band music and have also performed the newer compositions for septet that have proliferated recently. Our main inspiration has been from our brass playing colleagues and friends in Finland who have also been keeping the tradition alive and generously sharing their experience with us about this music. The Finnish brass septet repertoire is meaningful ethnic art, and also has an inherent musicality that is attractive to many listeners. More recently Poijat has played in Philadelphia, Delaware, Texas, and Canada. We have also made regular appearances in Minnesota and Wisconsin. During this time a new repertoire has developed. With the passage of more than a decade since Ameriikan Poijat began to play together, the musical inflections and nuances that create their style have continued to change and develop. They have been presenting music in concerts, at ethnic festivals, in regional tours, at music conferences, recreating authentic social dance music along with concert repertoire from a bygone era. “Poijat” was formed in Northfield, Minnesota by Paul Niemistö and made its first concert tour to a Finnish ethnic festival in Florida the next spring, and then made its first trip to Finland in 1992 for the Finnish 75 anniversary. Poijat has returned Finland several time since, most recently help celebrate the Finnish Centennial in 2017. During the 1980’s, Paul Niemistö made contact with many Finnish brass players, thereby discovering this relatively unknown musical tradition. Members of Ameriikan poijat are musicians and teachers are from greater Minnesota, a region where many Nordic settlers arrived, Finns especially in the north. Ameriikan poijat has developed programming around beautiful old concert music and dance arrangements, and has enjoyed wide popularity among Finnish American music lovers and festival goers, and to an increasingly wider audience.

Little Chicago is a horn cover band for hits of the 1960s and 1970s, based in New Prague, Minnesota. The band purposely plays about 10 gigs per year, mostly spring to fall, and has been performing in the Twin Cities since 1999.

The horn band plays pop/rock music. It features hits by such famous groups as Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Grass Roots, the Union Gap, the Bee Gees, The Dave Clark Five, Dusty Springfield, and more.

Music at Memorial (formerly Music at the Broz), the free summer music concert series in New Prague, is set for its fifth year of performances, beginning on June 17. There are eight concerts this year, all on Wednesday nights.

The concert series is produced by the New Prague Arts Foundation. The foundation took ownership of the summer series when the New Prague Area Arts Council chose not to do it in 2025.

With the delays in constructing the POPS facility, this summer’s concerts will, again, be held in Memorial Park.

“Thanks to the graciousness of the city, we were able to book the shelter area by the two ball fields at Memorial Park by the playground,” Den Gardner, president of the New Prague Arts Foundation and organizer of this event, said. “We chose Wednesday nights so we wouldn’t interfere with youth baseball on Thursday nights. Community concert series in the summer are common for Wednesdays or Thursdays. We were lucky the city was able to work with us to get Wednesdays booked.”

Band Schedule (Wednesday nights):

• August 5 — Little Chicago – The summer concert series ends with the local band Little Chicago – playing rock/pop horn band songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Sponsors (so far – contact Den for information on sponsoring a concert):

• Brusseau Investments/Diversified Wealth Management
• Dr. Mike and Kay Wilcox
• Bruzek Funeral Home
• Gardner & Gardner Communications
• Bishop Investments of TrueJourney
• Minnwest Bank
• Pat Sullivan Group/Remax
• Traxler Wealth Management
• Media Partners: KCHK Radio & New Prague Times

All concerts are free to the public from 6:30 p.m. to approximately 8 p.m.

New this year: we are adding a half-hour “opening act” with local groups performing prior to the featured band. The opening act group will perform from 6 p.m. to about 6:30 p.m.