brass choir experiences in universities

[bearphonium]

Don't know much about the kollej scene anymore, but I am working on forming group called "Badges and Brass": active and retired law enforcement. I do know about the manager thing, however.... Looking forward to some patriotic type gigs.

[Ken Herrick]

Joe, you've done it again!!!! What's hapnin here, you tryin to get these younguns into some sort of real edjimkashun????????

I remember that when I was at Interlochen in - well a long time ago - The best time I had was playing with the brass choir which regularly performed at the weekly 'church' service and a few other concert settings. For some reason the other tuba folk didn't want to do much of it but, being number 1 foundation for such a group gives a chance to blend and balance with a larger ensemble, hone tuning, and learn sharing ways of expressing a line which you don't often get elsewhere. There was only rarely any brass choir playing at Northwestern when I was there and I really missed it and took up every possible opportunity to do it when there was a chance.

There is a lot of very good literature available, probably much more now than there was then.

Your suggestion to become an organiser/ leader/ administrator is VERY sound advice. Let's face it, there are not all that many tuba playing positions available and the managerial/entreprenurial skills one can develop can come in very handy for being able to persue a career in music despite not being in the playing position. It could also be a great opportunity to get some conducting experience which might even make some players who like to bitch about conductors see things from a more enlightened perspective. All in all such experience ould even help for admission to grad school with an assistantship position and it just goes from there.

Some years ago Harvey Phillips suggested to me that a DMA was not the greatest career prospect enhancing degree. His suggestion? Business Admin or Finance. Imagine how different the "Tuba World" might be today had it not been for Harvey's skills as an administrator. Fair chance there would not be a New England Conservatory either.

This is certainly something to think about.

[Steve Marcus]

Next to orchestral playing, my favorite ensemble in which to play is a brass choir. Bloke mentioned Matt Gaunt's Burning River Brass. German Brass, London Brass/PJBE, Denver Brass, and other similar ensembles perform great music.

There is much fine repertoire for brass ensembles of 10-14 players. One of my favorite pieces in this genre is the Herbert Haufrecht Symphony for Brass and Timpani.

On second thought, I enjoy playing in most ensemble settings:, quintets, brass bands, etc. There are certainly more tuba soloists today than there were 20 years ago and numerous solo tuba recordings. But I don't get the thrill as a soloist that I do as a member of an ensemble. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why I love playing tuba; it usually plays a strong supportive role rather than standing out as a featured soloist.

[MartyNeilan]

One of my most rewarding experiences at Lee University was the low brass choir under Dr. Doug Warner, out of which we spun off a trombone octet: 6 tenors and two basses. Playing the Ewazen "Fantasy and Double Fugue for Trombone Octet" was one of the highlights of that ensemble.

There is much good music to be made in a wide variety of configurations, besides the "two tubas / two euphs" model many low brass players get stuck in.

P.S. The original Dukas is great for a medium to large brass ensemble - just make sure you get that Ab stuck in your head beforehand!

[Bob Kolada]

I played in my school's brass ensemble this past semester- 4 trumpets, 2 horns, 3 trombones, euphonium, and me on tuba (played my little King and a school 186). I'll be doing it again spring semester but since I won't be a music major I'll be playing bass trombone on the bottom part (I'll also be playing in the jazz band again, do not want to carry 2 horns on the bus as a non-music major, and had a better chance of playing bass trombone in brass ensemble than tuba in jazz band ).

[dfear]

I had a really good experience with brass choir in my college days, but it really only made for one semester.

I arrange, compose, and conduct for a brass choir in the high school that I'm the assistant band director. These high school students really get into the brass choir setting and take those experiences back to concert band which has made great improvements through-out the ensemble.

The head director does the same thing with the woodwinds (it helps that she plays clarinet), but the improvement to our large ensemble has been significant.

[Steve Marcus]

Millar Brass...?? (or is that a non-university-affiliated ensemble?)

From the Millar Brass website:

A rehearsal space was provided for the musicians at Northwestern University's Alice Millar Chapel in return for performing at the Chapel’s worship services.

[Ken Herrick]

Okay, I can take a bit of "agism" - yep my time at Northwestern predates the birth of Millar Brass by about 15 years. Nothing like that happened there then. Like at that time I don't think Jake had ever even set foot on the NU campus. Generally the only brass ensemble work was when a bunch of us would just get together in a practice room and go for it. Quintet playing at the school usually only happened if somebody slipped a quintet number into their recital program. I was "lucky" in that by my second year I was playing (splitting with Bob Bauchens) the Chicago Brass Quintet job so got to do a lot of quintet work.

An interesting aside to all this is the organ in the Millar Chapel. It was all very new then and the organ had a rather shrill sound. It was found that by dropping the air pressure somewhat it improved a lot. This also altered the pitch of the organ which was originally at A444 or maybe a bit higher. This is a point for tuba players to consider. Jake for one played with a lower pressure than most and that was certainly a factor in the sound he got. It also meant that his pitch would be a bit lower resulting in the need to cut a bit off his horns to get them up to pitch. After a period of studying with him and modifying my playing I had to cut about three inches off my King for the same reason.

If I wanted to get a brighter sound without making any equipment changes I merely played with a higher air pressure and pulled the slide a bit. For me a change of pressure was a better way of adjusting pitch upward than "lipping" as the tone still stayed "centred" but with a bit less fundamental (Brighter). This gave me more options for blending with other sections in a band or orchestra setting.

There is a quite recent post in with the OP mentioned "playing more relaxed" and being told to "back off". relaxation with a higher flow rate at lower pressure will give a "bigger" (and better) sound with less work.

[scottw]

As most of you have already said, large brass ensemble is easily my #1 favorite means of expression in playing. If you do not blend, balance, play in tune, articulate, etc., it will surely show up like the proverbial sore thumb. I never leave a rehearsal without feeling tired but up. There is a problem getting good rep for a large ensemble; there is a lot of stuff available for 10- and 11-piece groups, but 16-18 piece is another story, especially with percussion also added. Since there is a lot of doubling of parts, these smaller size pieces can be out of balance very easily, and the players bored of all the unison. We are always looking for quality pieces for 5-5-5-2-1-perc. I understand from a very high-profile, well-known concert band composer that even his publisher will not publish his equally-nice ensemble stuff---it is not worth a press run.He must self publish this material and market it himself via the web. Nice pieces, too.
If anyone can recommend some nice pieces, I am always looking!And, yes, La Peri is very nice, and, yes, you had best have that Ab set in your head!
If you haven't tried any of the David Uber stuff, you really should give him a whirl. He was quite prolific, accomplished and different-sounding. We were fortunate to have him write Commemoration Overture for our group's 25th anniversary, just a few years before he passed away. Nice music!

[TubaTodd]

Ithaca College has a brass choir class. My freshman year it was conducted by the wind ensemble director (I forgot his name. He was there only 1 year after Rodney Winther left). The next 3 years it was conducted by Dr. Keith Kaiser. I added brass choir to my schedule for one semester in 2-3 of my years there. It was my favorite class.

[jonesbrass]

Agree with Bloke on this one. We had a brass choir/brass ensemble class offered every semester when I was in college, too. For the brass students, participation was considered an "unofficial" requirement. We all wanted to do it, anyway. For most of the semester, we performed as brass quintets and other, smaller ensembles, with regular performances. At the end of the semester, we all came together to perform in a brass choir for graduation and other paid gigs. The conductor, my mentor, arranged music for the spedific instrumentation we had at the time, and wrote each part with the capabilities of the player in mind, for the most part. GREAT EXPERIENCE. I don't understand why a music school would not encourage this type of thing to develop real performing skills . . .

[TubaNerd88]

My college offers a brass choir class in the fall, and I have been the tubist for that brass choir for the past 4 years. I cannot tell you how much knowledge and experience I've gained from playing in that type of setting.

...and I whole-heartedly agree with you Joe. It should be looked into more, and it should be broadened more as well. It's a wonderful experience.

- Matthew "experienced in brass choir settings" Gray