September 26, 2016
American Brass Quintet Embarks on Fall Tour
Matt Dine

Hailed by Newsweek as “the high priests of brass,” the American Brass Quintet is internationally recognized as one of the premier chamber music ensembles of our time, celebrated for peerless leadership in the brass world. As 2013 recipient of Chamber Music America’s highest honor, the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award for significant and lasting contributions to the field, the American Brass Quintet’s rich history includes performances in Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Canada and the United States; a discography of nearly 60 recordings; and the premieres of over 150 contemporary brass works. Committed to the development of brass chamber music through higher education, the American Brass Quintet has served as Ensemble-in-Residence at The Juilliard School since 1987 and the Aspen Music Festival since 1970. 

Following their residency at Adelphi University on October 8, the Quintet returns to Juilliard with two NYC premieres by Kenneth Fuchs and Eric Nathan (both of which debuted in Aspen this past summer), along with works by the late Brazilian composer Osvaldo Lacerda and a suite of Renaissance pieces for large brass ensemble, for which the Quintet will be joined onstage by their Juilliard students. Fuchs’s “American” Quintet, commissioned by the ABQ, aims to capture a truly "Americana" style; consonant, pleasing and grand, with great virtuosic and musical variety. The Aspen Times commented that the composition “lit a fire under the players’ virtuosity, with rapidly moving, colorful and delightfully accessible writing that never flagged. It was so good I wished they had played the entire 12 minutes over again.” Kenneth Fuchs was a student at The Juilliard School during the beginning of the American Brass Quintet’s tenure as Ensemble-in-Residence, and is a faculty colleague of the Quintet’s trumpet player Louis Hanzlik at the University of Connecticut.  

Eric Nathan’s Missing Words II is the second in an ongoing series of compositions written in homage to Ben Schott’s book Schottenfreude (Blue Rider Press/Penguin Group), a collection of newly-created German words for contemporary life. Commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival for the ABQ, Nathan playfully explores three new words: Leertretung(defined as “stepping down heavily on a stair that isn’t there”), Kraftfahrzeugsinnenausstattungsneugeruchsgenuss (“New Car Smell”) and Brillenbrillanz (“the sudden, innervating clarity afforded by new glasses”).

The American Brass Quintet’s past commissions by Robert Beaser, William Bolcom, Elliott Carter, Eric Ewazen, Anthony Plog, Huang Ruo, David Sampson, Gunther Schuller, William Schuman, Joan Tower and Charles Whittenberg, among many others, are considered significant contributions to contemporary chamber music and the foundation of the modern brass quintet repertoire.

Another major highlight of the American Brass Quintet’s upcoming season is its ongoing collaboration with NYC-based avant-garde composer John Zorn, featuring the World Premiere of Blue Stratagem at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre on October 20 as part of its “Composer Portraits” series. Blue Stratagem reflects a modernist take on group improvisation, in which Zorn explores the multitude of colors available for brass and scores for an array of mutes, including a custom-made solo-tone for bass trombone. The ABQ’s horn player Eric Reed commented, “This fall is a very exciting time for us -- not only do we get to perform close to home a number of times, but the excitement of two international tours makes it a special season indeed. On top of all that, our ongoing collaboration with our friend and colleague John Zorn is sure to be a high point of the year. Multiple groups have been asking Zorn for a brass quintet for decades, and we're performing the first two this fall -- it means a lot to work so closely with such an important NYC figure and bring his imagination to life. We appreciate his warmth and generosity of spirit, as well as his generosity of notes!”

On October 23, the American Brass Quintet appears at the Guggenheim as part of its Works & Process performing arts series for a Works & Process encore commission of Zorn's Commedia dell’arte, a suite of five miniatures for multiple ensembles inspired by the dell’arte characters Harlequin, Colombina, Scaramouche, Pulcinella and Pierrot. The Quintet’s movement is the jovial, quasi-minimalist “Pulcinella.” Commedia dell’arte displays a wide range of compositional styles spanning minimalism, post-bop jazz, avant-garde and more. This suite is being choreographed for a future collaboration with the ABQ.

Additional fall engagements bring the Quintet to Colgate University (Hamilton, NY), The Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, CT), Adelphi University (Garden City, NY), Coastal Concerts (Lewes, DE) and University of Maryland – Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).

Internationally, the American Brass Quintet is presented by the Santa Marcelina Cultural Society in São Paulo, Brazil, and tours Asia in November in coordination with The Juilliard School.

 

*FALL 2016 CONCERTS:

Sunday, September 18, 2016 at 3:30 PM
Colgate University, Memorial Chapel
Hamilton, NY

RAYMOND MAZE (editor): Three Venetian Canzoni
OSVALDO LACERDAQuinteto Concertante
JOAN TOWERCopperwave
KENNETH FUCHS: Brass Quintet No. 2, "American" (New York Premiere)
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI: Three Madrigals
ERIC EWAZENColchester Fantasy
 

September 25 – October 2:
Santa Marcelina Cultural Society
São Paulo
BRAZIL
 

Friday, October 7, 2016 at 7 PM
The Hotchkiss School, Katherine Elfers Hall
Lakeville, CT

RAYMOND MAZE (editor): Three Venetian Canzoni
OSVALDO LACERDAQuinteto Concertante
KENNETH FUCHS: Brass Quintet No. 2, "American"
THOMAS STOLTZER: Three Fantasias in Church Modes    
ERIC NATHANMissing Words II 
ERIC EWAZENColchester Fantasy
 

Saturday, October 8 at 8 PM
Adelphi University, Westermann Stage
Garden City, NY

OSVALDO LACERDAQuinteto Concertante
KENNETH FUCHS: Brass Quintet No. 2, "American"
ERIC NATHANMissing Words II (New York Premiere)
DAVID SAMPSON: Chesapeake
 

Monday, October 10 at 7:30 PM
The Juilliard School, Paul Hall
New York, NY

KENNETH FUCHS: Brass Quintet No. 2, "American" (NYC Premiere)
ERIC NATHANMissing Words II (NYC Premiere)
OSVALDO LACERDAQuinteto Concertante
 

Saturday, October 15 at 7 PM
Coastal Concerts, Bethel United Methodist Church

Lewes, DE

RAYMOND MAZE (editor): Three Venetian Canzoni
OSVALDO LACERDAQuinteto Concertante
JOAN TOWERCopperwave
KENNETH FUCHS: Brass Quintet No. 2, "American"
THOMAS STOLTZER: Three Fantasias in Church Modes
DAVID SAMPSON: Chesapeake
 

Sunday, October 16 at 8 PM
University of Maryland – Baltimore County, Linehan Concert Hall
Baltimore, MD

RAYMOND MAZE (editor): Three Venetian Canzoni
OSVALDO LACERDAQuinteto Concertante
JOAN TOWERCopperwave
KENNETH FUCHS: Brass Quintet No. 2, "American"
THOMAS STOLTZER: Three Fantasias in Church Modes
DAVID SAMPSON: Chesapeake
 

Thursday, October 20 at 8 PM
Columbia University, Miller Theatre
New York, NY

JOHN ZORNBlue Stratagem (World Premiere)
 

Sunday, October 23 at 9 PM
Works & Process at the Guggenheim
New York, NY

JOHN ZORNPulcinella 
 

ASIA TOUR:

Wednesday, November 2 – Hong Kong
Wednesday, November 9 – Tianjin, China
Friday, November 11 – Chengdu, China
Tuesday, November 15 – Taipei, Taiwan

 

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