St Louis Brass Concert Report

The fifth and final piece of this concert was called "Symphonic Metamorphosis" by Paul Hindemith. It was composed in 1943 after Themes by Carl Maria von Weber. This piece was truly fascinating because it involved every instrument in the orchestra as stated by the conductor beforehand. The song was very technical and had a lot going on in the duration of it. It was also very dynamic and had quite a bit of good synergy to it. There weren't instruments interjecting and playing on top of each other. Overall this piece was incredible and flowed nicely.

One would play for approximately ten seconds and then another would play. This seemed more improvised. And though they were short, they were complex improvisations. After they played, there was one trumpet playing. All of the playing occurred with the drums being played in the

Against the lush green field of the White River State Park, stood the impressive stage. The show began with a riveting American fanfare, encompassing the brass section. Undoubtedly the trumpets took center stage here. The trills of these brass instruments painted this piece vividly. Accompanying the trumpets, were the rich deep whispers of the tubas and horns, lightly adorning the melody. This was then followed by the

I attended the Baylor University Concert Jazz Ensemble directed by Alex Parker on Tuesday, November 10th. This ensemble consisted of saxes, trombones, trumpets, drums, a piano, and bass. The concert showcased many individual talents by including solo’s or duet’s in every song. The program consisted of seven songs with no intermission. The pieces I selected were “Big Dipper” by Thad Jones and “Undecided” by Frank Mantooth.

On April 11th, 2017 in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, I attended the GVSU “University Band”. This up-beat ensemble lasted about 90 minutes; the talented students of GVSU’s university band joined together to perform multiple different songs ranging from a Waltz to a Dixieland Jamboree. All of the songs that the band played for the audience were all well-known, popular songs that they all enjoyed. Having the opportunity to attend this concert has opened new musical paths for myself and has allowed me to enjoy and kindly critique something that I perhaps would have never had the chance to otherwise.

The University of Redlands Wind Ensemble, directed by Eddie R. Smith, put on a show at the Memorial Chapel on Tuesday, November 16th. Walking into the monumental Chapel I was unsure of what to expect. As I walked in I saw the amazing artwork around, the high ceilings, and a wide variety of instruments scattered on different levels of the stage. On the first level there were many small hand held instruments such as flutes and clarinets, on the second there were a wide variety of brass instruments, and finally in the last row were the percussion instruments. Knowing that it was a wind ensemble and not a traditional orchestra like the ones we have been made familiar with during this course, I was unsure of what to expect. I thought that

On Thursday, December 11 at 12:30 pm, I attended the musical show in Studio 312 of the Roosevelt Hall. It 's not the typical performance expected when thinking about attending a concert. Most people of this generation would assume it 's some performance by a famous artist at Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center. As the title explains, it is chamber music and is a different experience. As for the attire, everyone who took part of the performance were dressed in all black. There were various instruments used such as the harp, piano, viola, flute, guitar, clarinet, violin, and voices ranging from the soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor, and baritone.

Watching Louis Armstrong’s live performance in Berlin during the year 1965 was a pleasure, especially because I am a great fan of his music. Throughout the concert in Berlin, Armstrong and his chamber orchestra played 13 different pieces. With the exception of Jewel Woods’ entrance on vocals for two songs, the makeup of the chamber orchestra did not change throughout the concert. As a result, the cello, clarinet, drums, piano, trombone, and trumpet remained vital parts of each song throughout the concert.

Ranging from playing pieces by J.S. Bach to pieces by Billy Joel, The Boston Brass is a brass quintet with a french horn, two trumpets, a tuba, and a trombone that recognizes works from many different genres in a concert, including Orchestra, Opera, Ballet, Jazz, Broadway, and more. Their concert Friday night, on September 15th in the Concert hall of the Forbes Center featured a wide variety of music that the group excelled at playing, including concert highlights of “Milonga del Angel” or “Gathering of the Angels” by Astor Piazzolla, a surprise performance of “The Little Feud in G Minor” by J.S. Bach, “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra and “Caravan” by Duke Ellington. The group’s charisma with both the audience and each other made the performance a ‘must-see’ and a wonderful way to spend an evening.

As this year’s Brass Quintet’s Student Director, I seek to inspire and spur on this select group of musicians, while coordinating all rehearsal and performance details for our intimate chamber group. Additionally, in order to push the boundaries of my musical expertise, I will be composing a unique arrangement of our high school’s alma mater, as a new music repertoire for our group. While seeking to extend my capabilities musically and to translate lessons learned to my broader character, I am vividly reminded of the impact and presence of my now scuffed and well-used trumpet in so many facets of my life. My trumpet playing reflects my desire to continue to push myself musically, and in whatever course of life I choose, and it will certainly be a vital element of my

For my second concert I attended the Central Methodist University Concert Band at Swinney Conservatory of music. The first piece that they played was titled Cyrus the Great, this piece was composed by Karl King and arrangement by Andrew Glover. Cyrus was a band member in King Fort Dodge Municipal Band from Iowa. This piece is a march. This piece contains low brass lines with minor key tonalities with some interesting harmonic changes. The great thing about this piece is that it gives all sections of the band a chance to shine and show their skills. Mr. King published this piece in 1912 after he finished playing in circus bands.

This was a great piece to start the concert with. Finding out later from Conductor Dr. Chuck (what he likes to be called) that the concert was Americana themed, the orchestra did a fantastic job bringing in the crowd with a song everyone would know. I caught myself dancing along with the music and counting the beats along with the orchestra. Played with great fortissimo is exactly how I pictured American bands and orchestras playing during the Revolutionary War. I loved it when all of a sudden they went very pianissimo and then crescendo into my all-time favorite patriotic song, Yankee Doodle!

The history of the American brass band is a subtle yet interesting one. Made up of cornets and saxhorns during the 1850’s the all brass band grew to a whole new level of popularity and has become a prominent feature of the brass bands of today. Leading with E flat horns is a prominent extraordinary feature of the early American brass bands. Creating a homogeneous mellow sound by mixing the timbres of these different instruments is one of the most if not the most important characteristics of the early American brass band. The changing times and the creations of different types of sound made many of the instrument in the band become obsolete which also played a huge part in the how much of the literature that can be performed in today’s traditional

It was performed by the CSU Graduate Brass Quintet, consisting of Nikolas Valinsky, Matthew Chanlynn, Emelie Pfaff, William Gamache, and Heather Ewer. While Valinsky and Chanlynn played the trumpet, Pfaff played the horn, Gamache the trombone and Ewer tuba. This quartet accomplished a wonderful work by the different melodies, pitches and dynamics. While the tuba was heard more in the background due to its low pitch, the most significant instruments were the trumpets. Not only did they provide the highest pitch but it was also heard as the main instrument because of their rhythm. Together, this group of brass instruments created a dense rhythm by providing the audience with several layers of music on top of each-other. Altogether, I enjoyed this piece the most. It made me feel happy, excited and joyful.

3rd Prize - Cover Design Featuring Graphic Elements: New Studies For Trumpet by Darren Fellows