Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle | February 18-19

PROMEDICA MASTERWORKS SERIES: CANADIAN BRASS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 8 PM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 8 PM

Alain Trudel, conductor

With an international reputation as one of the most popular brass ensembles in the world today, Canadian Brass is known for their virtuosity, spontaneity, and flair. This concert features a unique blend of classical arrangements and Canadian Brass originals. William L. Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, inspired by the themes of Negro spirituals closes the program.

Friends Chuck Daellenbach and Gene Watts first came together in 1970 to form a brass quintet — a chamber music setting not entirely new, but never before having garnered the success and storied career Canadian Brass would achieve over the next 40 years. Initially, Gene took on the role of developing new repertoire while Chuck was the moving force in marketing, publishing and managing the business. Three empty chairs were quickly filled and together, the group’s imagination and consummate musicianship elevated the art of the brass quintet to what it is today. Here was not only an opportunity to explore the possibilities of an all-brass chamber group but a challenge to bring the sound and the excitement of brass music to new audiences.

Masters of concert presentations, Canadian Brass has developed a uniquely engaging stage presence and rapport with audiences. Each of their concerts will show the full range from trademark Baroque and Dixieland tunes to new compositions and arrangements created especially for them – from formal classical presentation to music served up with lively dialogue and theatrical effects. The hallmark of any Canadian Brass performance is entertainment, spontaneity, virtuosity and, most of all, fun – but never at the expense of the music: