Suites and treats: Brass Arts Quintet in concert April 19
The Brass Arts Quintet at Tennessee Tech University will present a free concert at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 19, in Wattenbarger Auditorium of the Bryan Fine Arts Building, 1150 N. Dixie Ave. The program will feature members of the group in works by Bernstein, Danner, Hauser, McCormick, Monk and more.
The evening’s concert will feature homegrown works either composed or arranged by members of the ensemble especially for this group as well as what may be the earliest composition written for the TTU faculty ensemble.
Bennie Beach's Music for Brass was composed for the quintet in 1970 and is a wonderful work, said Joshua Hauser, TTU associate professor of trombone. One of the highlights of the evening will be the performance of a new major composition for brass quintet by TTU Composer-in-Residence and Brass Arts Quintet hornist Greg Danner.
The Suite for Brass Quintet was composed over the past year as part of a commission by the Kentucky Music Teachers Association. Danner was selected to compose a work to be featured at the KMTA annual conference held last October.
“One of the interesting features of composing a work for a specific group of individuals is the ability to picture not only the generic sound of a trumpet or a tuba on a particular passage, but the actual sound of the performer for which the part is intended,” said Hauser, trombonist with the BAQ and director of the ensemble. “Greg was able to showcase each of us in our strengths and use combinations of players throughout the work that exactly matched the sound in his head as he was composing. We were all able to do that as we composed and arranged the music we are performing for this concert, which is one of the things that makes this particular performance unique.”
Other works on the evening’s program include the premiere of Fanfare and Groove by Hauser, Expansions by Chris McCormick and Leonard Bernstein's Simple Song as arranged by Charles Decker.
The performance will close with a suite of jazz- and rock-influenced works composed and arranged by Hauser and McCormick.
“Chris' arrangement of Thelonious Monk's Blue Monk incorporates jazz improvisation,” Hauser said. “Since Chris and I are both comfortable with that, he took advantage of the opportunity to incorporate the spontaneity of improvisation within a standard brass quintet setting, providing a truly unique performance every time we play these tunes. We will also premiere a new piece I wrote that was influenced by the guitar playing of Bo Diddley titled Juba Groove. A ‘juba’ is an African-influenced rhythm that Diddley used to great effect in songs like Mockingbird and has also been used in many more recent rock ’n’ roll songs. When Winston comes in on the opening tuba figure you will be moving along with the groove within a few bars!
“This should be a fun and varied performance that everyone will enjoy. We look forward to seeing you here.”
For more information, contact Hauser at 931-372-6086 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
