On February 14, 2010, the Spanish Brass Luur Metalls appeared in concert as part of a series promoted by a local classical music station in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Performing at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, the quintet opened with Batalla Imperial by Juan Bautista Cabanilles. In the piece, members enter the stage one at a time, playing a few measures of the melody. Then, as the next performer appears and begins to play the melody, the previous player moves to an accompanimental role until the entire quintet is on stage and plays the remainder of the piece as an ensemble. ITG members who saw Luur Metalls perform at the 2007 ITG Conference in Amherst, Massachusetts, will remember the same opening piece from there.

Trumpeter Carlos Benetó Grau, who spoke for the group, introduced the next piece by mentioning the group's friendship with the late Fred Mills, spoke of his passing, then played one of Mills's better-known quintet arrangements, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Following this piece, Grau, as many visiting brass players do, made note of Albuquerque's elevation (most of the city is above 5000 MSL), which often catches brass players by surprise! The concert continued with Caballeros Andantes by Josep Vicent Egea, followed by Asturias by Isaac Albéniz. The first half concluded with La Boda de Luis Alonso by Geronimo Gimenez and Wapango by Paquito d'Rivera, a snappy and complex Cuban number. The audience was highly impressed with the Spanish Brass, giving them a standing ovation at the intermission!

The second half opened with a medley from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story. Next up was Valse-Charade by Henry Mancini (from the movie Charade), featuring a tuba solo entrance. The quintet then moved into a jazzy mode with A Handful of Keys by Fats Waller and Caravan by Duke Ellington. Another standing ovation followed the end of the program. For an encore, the group played a tongue-in-cheek rendition of the Colonel Bogey March entirely on mouthpieces and then the Don Gillis arrangement of Just a Closer Walk with Thee.

Information about the ensemble, including tour schedules, is available online at http://www.spanishbrass.com.

Source: Joseph Walters, Advertising and Productions Manager, ITG Journal