Empire Brass | |
|---|---|
 Empire Brass performing in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | www |
Empire Brass is a brass quintet from the United States. The group was founded in 1971. The original members met at Tanglewood Music Center (in Lenox, Massachusetts) in 1970. [1]
The quintet chose its name after performing in New York City. [1] (New York is the Empire State.) They continue to tour regularly in North America, Europe, and Asia. They have been the Faculty Quintet-in-Residence at Boston University since 1976. [2]
The Empire Brass have appeared on Good Morning America , Today Show and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . [3] They also make joint concert appearances with organist Douglas Major. [4]
As of May 2015, its members include:
Previous members include:
The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach (tuba) and Gene Watts (trombone), with horn player Graeme Page and trumpeters Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips completing the quintet. As of August 2023, Daellenbach is the sole original member in the group, with the other members being trumpeters Joe Burgstaller and Mikio Sasaki, hornist Jeff Nelsen, and trombonist Keith Dyrda.
A brass quintet is a five-piece musical ensemble composed of brass instruments. The instrumentation for a brass quintet typically includes two trumpets or cornets, one French horn, one trombone or euphonium/baritone horn, and one tuba or bass trombone.The two instrumentations of the brass quintet that are currently in use are the quintet of two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba; and the quintet of two trumpets, horn, trombone, and bass trombone"(Lindhaul 1988). Musicians in a brass quintet may often play multiple instruments. Trumpet players for instance may double on piccolo trumpets and flugelhorns. There can be variation in instrumentation depending on the type of quintet. In some quintets, the horn is replaced by an additional trombone. Euphonium may also be substituted for the trombone part. While the tuba is considered a standard, the range and style of many pieces lend themselves to being played with bass trombone as the lowest-pitched instrument. Additionally, some pieces call for the use of percussion instruments, particularly the snare drum, tambourine, or timpani.
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Mark Hetzler is an American trombonist and former member of the Empire Brass Quintet. Hetzler has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Boston Pops, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Empire Brass Quintet from 1996–2012, he performed in recital and as a soloist with symphony orchestras in Australia, Taiwan, Korea, China, Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, Austria, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, Bermuda, St. Bartholomew and across the United States. He appeared with the Empire Brass Quintet on live television and radio broadcasts in Asia and the United States. He is on several of the critically acclaimed Empire Brass CDs on the Telarc label, including Firedance, The Glory of Gabrieli, and a recording of Baroque music for Brass and Organ. Hetzler has recorded ten solo albums released on Summit Records; he has also recorded for the Arista Records label.
Allan Dean is an American trumpeter who has spent much of his career working as a chamber music player in the United States. Mr. Dean's career is particularly well established in the New York musical scene—primarily because of his long involvement with the New York Brass Quintet. While in New York City, he was a prolific commercial trumpeter, recording jingles for everything from ABC Nightly News to the Olympics. He is also a founding member of Summit Brass, and currently plays with the Saint Louis Brass Quintet. His arrangements are often featured on recordings with these ensembles.
Alison Louise Balsom, Lady Mendes, is an English trumpet soloist, arranger, producer, and music educator. Balsom was awarded Artist of the Year at the 2013 Gramophone Awards and has won three Classic BRIT Awards and three German Echo Awards, and was a soloist at the BBC Last Night of the Proms in 2009. She was the artistic director of the 2019 Cheltenham Music Festival.
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Musical instruments used in Baroque music were partly used already before, partly are still in use today, but with no technology. The movement to perform music in a historically informed way, trying to recreate the sound of the period, led to the use of historic instruments of the period and to the reconstruction of instruments.
Rolf Thorstein Smedvig was an American classical trumpeter. He was the founder of the Empire Brass brass quintet. He is renowned for his exemplary tone and accurate intonation.
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The quintet was a co-winner of the Naumberg Chamber Music Award in 1976 and had also begun a long-term residency at Boston University.
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