Empire Brass | |
|---|---|
 Empire Brass performing in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
| 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:
A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds and percussion.
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 2018, Daellenbach is the sole original member in the group, with the other members being trumpeters Caleb Hudson and Brandon Ridenour, hornist Jeff Nelsen, and trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos.
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. 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.
Philip Jones was a British trumpeter and leader of an internationally famous brass chamber music ensemble.
David Hickman is an American trumpeter, author, academic, and is widely considered one of the preeminent trumpet virtuosi of the 20th century. He is a Regents' Professor of trumpet at Arizona State University and past President of the International Trumpet Guild.
Václav Nelhýbel was a Czech American composer, mainly of works for student performers.
Roger Louis Voisin was an American classical trumpeter. In 1959, The New York Times called him "one of the best-known trumpeters in this country."
The Atlantic Brass Quintet is an American brass quintet that has been in existence for over 30 years.
Walter Sinclair Hartley was an American composer of contemporary (classical) music.
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.
The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter Philip Jones, was one of the first modern classical brass ensembles to be formed. The group played either as a quintet or as a ten-piece, for larger halls. It toured and recorded extensively, and numerous arrangements were commissioned, many of which were bequeathed on Jones' death to the library of the Royal Northern College of Music.
The Philadelphia Brass is a touring brass quintet based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
David C. Sampson is an American contemporary classical composer.
Gary Kulesha is a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. Since 1995, he has been Composer Advisor to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He has been Composer-in-Residence with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (1988–1992) and the Canadian Opera Company (1993–1995). He was awarded the National Arts Centre Orchestra Composer Award in 2002. He currently teaches on the music faculty at the University of Toronto.
Peter Bassano is an English conductor.
William Frederick Mills was a Canadian trumpeter and educator best known for his work with the Canadian Brass quintet from 1972 to 1996. He also served as a professor for the University of Georgia from 1996 until 2009.
C. Alexander Peloquin was an American composer of liturgical music, pianist, teacher, cathedral organist and director of music ministries. Inspired by the Second Vatican Council reforms, he is known for composing the first Roman Catholic Mass sung in English.
Rolf Thorstein Smedvig was an American classical trumpeter. He was the founder of the Empire Brass Quintet. He is renowned for his exemplary tone and accurate intonation.
James Samuel Pilafian was an American tuba player.
Constance Weldon was an American tuba player, who was the first woman to play the instrument in a major American orchestra.
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.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
 | This article on a United States band or other musical ensemble is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a classical ensemble is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
