In 2016 Jazz Mafia founder Adam Theis realized a long-time dream with the premiere of Brass Convergence, a one-day Yerba Buena Gardens Festival mini-fest featuring numerous ensembles rooted in far-flung brass traditions. This year, Brass Convergence responds to the dire need for positive change by bringing mobile bands to the streets. Anchored by top Bay Area players from Theis’s 17-year strong Jazz Mafia collective and Element Brass Band, the program includes Protest Brass, a new suite co-composed by Theis and Teddy Raven that explores numerous ways to utilize the enormous power and spectacle of brass band instrumentation, along with chants, shouts, singing and crowd participation. The event culminates in an all-hands-on-deck performance conceived as one of the largest bands ever assembled onstage in the Bay Area.