UMS Concert Program, November 9, 1991: The Canadian Brass --

Season: 113th
Concert: Eleventh
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
in association with Comerica and Comerica Capital Management
THE CANADIAN BRASS
Saturday Evening, November 9, 1991, at 8:00 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Frederic Mills, Trumpet Ronald Romm, Trumpet
David Ohanian, French Horn Eugene Watts, Trombone
Charles Daellenbach, Tuba
Assisted by two brass quintets and percussionists
from the University of Michigan School of Music
Donald Schleicher, Conductor
The University Musical Society is grateful to Comerica and Comerica Capital Management for a generous grant in underwriting this concert, and to the Canadian Consulate General for its support and cooperation.
The pre-concert carillon recital was performed by Lianna Wong, a U-M senior majoring in music and biology and a student of Margo Halsted, University Carillonneur. The Canadian Brass is represented by Columbia Artists Festivals, a division of Columbia Art?ists Management Inc., New York City.
The Canadian Brass records exclusively for Philips Classics; recordings are also available on CBS Masterworks and RCA Red Seal.
Eleventh Concert of the 113th Season 21st Annual Choice Series
PROGRAM
"Mozart on Parade" ...............an. Peter Schickele
Canzona No. 4 .................Gabrieli, an. Serry
Triple Brass, Donald Schleicher, conductor
Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C major.........Bach, an. Mills
"George M. Cohan on Broadway" ............an. Wright
Triple Brass and Percussion, Prof. Schleicher, conductor
Beale Street Blues............W.C. Handy, an. Henderson
Triple Brass and Percussion, Prof. Schleicher, conductor
INTERMISSION
La Virgen de la Macarena.................Traditional
Largo al factotum, from The Barber of Seville .... Rossini, an. Kulesha
Adagio ................ Samuel Barber, an. McNeff
Homsmoke: "A Horse Opera in One Act"..........Schickele
"A Tribute to John Philip Sousa" ............an. Wright
Triple Brass and Percussion, Prof. Schleicher, conductor
University of Michigan School of Music Personnel
Prof. Donald Schleicher, Conductor Prof. Fritz Kaenzig, Coordinator
Trumpets Christopher Hart Kris Kwapis John Marchiando David Roof
Trombones David Jackson William Mathis
Horns
Anne Fields Emilie Sargent
Tubas
Daniel Burdick
Stacy Melles
Percussion
Prof. Michael Udow Andrea Wirth Peter Wilson James Lee Wyatt III
About the Artists
For more than 20 years, the musical ensemble called The Canadian Brass has transformed a previously neglected group of instruments with a limited repertoire into an exciting and versatile ensemble. They perform every?thing from Renaissance and Bach to Gersh?win, Dixieland, and Gospel music. Over the years, these classically trained virtuoso musi?cians have stretched the horizons for brass players throughout the world.
The Canadian Brass -the first cham?ber ensemble ever to tour the People's Repub?lic of China and the first brass ensemble to play in Carnegie Hall -has delighted audi?ences in North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, and the Soviet Union. They perform over 130 concerts in North America alone each year, appearing at such major halls as New York's Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Ambassador Audito?rium in Los Angeles, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The ensemble has been featured with many leading U.S. orchestras, including those of Cleveland, Detroit, Min?nesota, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, the Na?tional Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston, New York, and Philadelphia Pops. They are also a popular attraction at many summer music festivals, including Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, Wolftrap, Meadow Brook, Blossom, and the Hollywood Bowl.
With more than 30 albums for three of the most prestigious labels in the world -Philips Classics, CBS Masterworks, and RCA Red Seal -the Canadian Brass' discography reflects the wide range of their musical mas?tery, from an all-Beethoven CD with col?leagues from the New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra to the just re?leased all-American composers disc called Red, White and Brass: Made in the U.S.A., featuring special guest jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis.
Other albums by the Canadian Brass include the antiphonal music by Venetian Renaissance composers Monteverdi and Gabrieli; Brass in Berlin, featuring Renais?sance and Baroque works performed with members of the Berlin Philharmonic; Vivaldi's Four Seasons; Basin Street, a Dixie?land recording with actor George Segal sing?ing and playing the banjo; and the new Canadian Brass Christmas disc featuring the noted Elmer Iseler Singers. The Brass' record?ing of The Art of the Fugue marks the first complete recording of Bach's monumental work by a brass quintet. The performing edition was developed for the Canadian Brass using copies of the original manuscript in Bach's own hand and editions based on the first published edition (posthumous) of 1750, with transcription by the highly regarded Arthur Frackenpohl. These recordings, along with many others, illustrate the constant
motivation of the ensemble to explore the range of brass music to its fullest potential.
Canadian Brass members have been seen by millions on such television shows as the Tonight and Today shows, Entertainment Tonight, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Camera Three, and Sesame Street. In cooper?ation with Philips Records, they were the first classical artists ever to record a television project on the new state-of-the-art high def?inition tape (HDTV) at Thames TV in England. The program is expected to air in the United States this season. On PBS, they have appeared as guest artists with John Williams and the Boston Pops, on Beverly Sills' Music Around the World, Canadian Brass Live at Wolftrap, and the Victor Borge 80th Birthday Special, as well as their own one-hour PBS special, The Canadian Brass Live.
Constantly seeking to expand the brass repertoire, the Canadian Brass has commis?sioned over 30 works from such distinguished composers as Lukas Foss and Michael Col-grass. They have also collaborated with that arch musical satirist, Peter Schickele (P.D.Q. Bach), who composed for them "the first horse opera ever written for brass quintet," Hornsmoke.
The Brass' wide and varied experiences with education have yielded a new series of ensemble publications graded for young brass students, and the group has published over 100 works drawn from its own repertoire for use by other brass ensembles. The Brass recently formed its own instrument company based in Wisconsin, distributing the instru?ments under the banner of the "Canadian Brass Collection."
The key to the Canadian Brass perfor?mance style is communication between the artists and their audiences, and to that end, they add appropriate comments and tasteful touches of humor to their concerts. As Charles Daellenbach puts it: "It's important that people get involved in the music. We feel a responsibility to see to it that the audience has fun. A good performance isn't enough -people have to go out feeling happy."
This evening's concert marks the sixth Canadian Brass performance in Ann Arbor under Musical Society auspices. Former ap?pearances were in 1984, 1985 (2), 1986, and 1989.