Canadian Brass Impromptu Concert Performance at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Jan. 15
The world-famous Canadian Brass music ensemble will thrill their Key West audience with a program including everything from Bernstein to Bach, to the Beatles, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 401 Duval St.
“I was down in Key West on an amazing vacation with my wife,” said the well-known quintet’s French horn player Bernhard Scully. “It was a truly amazing stay. I love Key West, and I’m looking forward to playing there.”
The Canadian Brass has been around since 1970. One of its founders, tuba player Chuck Daellenbach, is still in the ensemble, which by now has an international reputation as one of the most popular brass groups in the world.
The ensemble has developed a uniquely engaging stage presence and rapport with audiences. Its varied repertoire features brass standards as well as a wide-ranging library of original arrangements. These include the works of Renaissance and Baroque masters, classical works, marches, holiday favourites, ragtime, Dixieland, Latin, jazz, big band, Broadway and Christian music as well as popular songs and standards.
The musicians of the Brass have created their own musical world by transcribing, arranging and commissioning more than 600 works, including critically acclaimed compositions from Michael Kamen, Luther Henderson, Bramwell Tovey, Don Gillis and more. They can play everything from Gabrieli to Gershwin.
The Key West program will include “Little Fugue in G minor,” by J.S. Bach; “Damigella Tutta Bella,” by C. Monteverdi; “Canzona Per Sonare No. 4,” by G. Gabrieli; “Turkish Rondo,” by W.A. Mozart; a tribute to Leonard Bernstein; Lennon and McCartney’s “Penny Lane;” “El Relicario,” by J. Padilla; “Vals Peruano,” by E. Crespo; selections from “Carnaval,”by R. Schumann; “Quintet,” by M. Kamen; as well as a tribute to the ballet.
The Bernstein tribute will be especially pertinent to local music lovers, as the famed American composer was a frequent visitor to Key West. This fact is reflected in the Latin flourishes in his Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, of 1941-42. Over the coming year, Bernstein compositions will be featured by a number of Impromptu Concerts’ visiting musicians, in anticipation of the centennial of his birth next year.
“We’ve changed our program quite a bit in the last year,” said Scully, who also serves as a professor of horn at the University of Illinois. “There’s going to be a big smattering of all kinds of music, including romantic, popular, jazz, Dixieland, and more. I think there’s something for everybody in this program, as well as some surprises. We like to keep things interesting.”
Tickets for the concert cost $20, and are available at www.keystix.com, or at the door on the evening of the event. Cash, checks, or credit/debit cards will be accepted as payment. Students will be admitted free. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information, call 305-296-1520.