Brittany Sperberg is a fairly well-known musician in Shawano circles, especially among fans of the annual Shazz jazz festival.
The trombone player and 2011 Shawano Community High School graduate is one of the key coordinators for the festival, and she also came up with its name. A senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sperberg was well on her way to getting her bachelor’s degree in music education.
However, she had to take some time off from school after she started having health issues in August. Symptoms started with a painful infection in her nasal cavity, and since then, numerous tests, medications, surgeries, scans and biopsies have failed to produce results.
She checked into the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on Christmas Eve, and as yet, doctors have not been able to diagnose what is wrong with her. Sperberg and her mother, Bonnie, travel to the clinic, a 10-hour round trip, once or twice a week.
The rest of the week, Sperberg is in Shawano, as long as health complications don’t develop. Part of Sperberg’s face is numb after a recent surgery, and it is uncertain whether she will be able to regain movement — let alone whether she will be able to play her favorite instrument again.
The news shocked her friends and colleagues locally and in Madison, and some are working to raise money to help Sperberg and her family.
The UW-Madison music department recently set up a page on the crowdfunding website YouCaring.com and had raised $1,820 of its $5,000 goal as of Friday. The Shawano Jazz Foundation is also trying to raise $5,000. After setting up its page on Wednesday, it had $385 to help Sperberg and her family.
UW-Madison musical groups will perform a benefit concert March 18 in Madison.
The Shawano Jazz Foundation is planning to donate proceeds from its annual “One Night Only” performance March 21 to the Sperberg family. Keith and Kelly Baumann, owners of The Gathering, are also donating the money they make that night.
Those who know her describe Sperberg as a person always willing to give her heart and soul, especially when it comes to music.
“The key word is her heart,” said Mark Hetzler, Sperberg’s trombone professor at UW-Madison. “She’s got a huge heart. She’s got incredible spirit and energy. She’s excited about music. In terms of what she brings to the school every day with her playing and her enthusiasm and her organization, she is a leader.”
Hetzler said Sperberg’s absence is already being felt in Madison. Sperberg was due to perform with the UW Wind Ensemble in March at Carnegie Hall.
She also stepped away from a funk horn band called Dat Brass that she helped found.
“She had so many plans and aspirations,” Hetzler said. “Now, she’s sitting on the sidelines and trying to get healthy again. She’s such a leading force, and now that she’s on the sideline, we’re sort of feeling like ‘What can we do to step up to keep things going?’”
Sperberg will also miss the opportunity to perform at this year’s Shazz with one of her role models, Andy Martin, a 2015 Grammy Award-winning trombonist. Martin had been invited to the festival specifically to perform a duet with Sperberg as thanks for all the work she had put into the foundation.
“This really was going to be a special thing for her,” said Christopher Kent, SCHS band director and a key figure in Shazz. “Andy was over in Green Bay her senior year (of high school), and she met him, and afterwards, he gave her his number. He talked to her for about 30 minutes about the music industry and the whole thing. Having Andy come out this year was going to be a big thing for Brit.”
Kent said he was happy that Sperberg attended his alma mater, and he is hopeful that she will be able to play music again. He knows that she won’t give up.
“One of the things about her personality is that nothing gets her down,” Kent said. “She is just a very positive individual, and she was a huge factor when she was here as far as being a leader. She will do whatever she needs to do; that’s just who she is.”
Alex Isaacson, founder of the Shawano Jazz Foundation and a friend of Sperberg’s from high school, described Sperberg as a humble person and a hard worker. She also believes Sperberg will be able to move past what has happened.
“In Shawano, we’ve always known that she’s going to go far,” Isaacson said. “This is just a hiccup in a very bright career for Brittany.”
Efforts to reach Sperberg and her family by press time were unsuccessful.
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