Premiere Brass Quintet at the Mammoth Lakes concert. L-R: Fred Greene, Kevin Brown, Loren Marsteller, Steve Durnin, Ray Burkhart

The Premiere Brass Quintet, led by trumpeter/composer and ITG member Raymond Burkhart, presented a recital on August 9, 2005 as part of the Spotlight Concert Series of the 28th annual Sierra Summer Festival. The program included Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, 19th-century, and contemporary works. Burkhart's most recent brass quintet composition, Bouquet de Brass, which won First Prize in the 2005 Humboldt State University Brass Chamber Music Workshop Composition Contest, was given its world premiere.

The Premiere Brass Quintet is comprised of Burkhart and Kevin Brown on trumpets, Steve Durnin on horn, Loren Marsteller on trombone, and Fred Greene on tuba. They used a variety of instruments, as the opportunity afforded, including rotary trumpets, Bb and Eb cornets, piccolo trumpet, and euphonium, in addition to the regular tools. The venue was St. Joseph's Catholic Church, located in the Eastern Sierra community (and winter skiing mecca) of Mammoth Lakes, California, with its stunning vistas of mountain peaks and alpine lakes. At almost 9,000 feet above sea level, brass playing presents unique challenges!

The large audience was treated in the first half to selections arranged in chronological order, highlighting in part the long, if obscure, history of brass chamber music from the Renaissance through the 19th century. Of particular interest was Burkhart's edition of Offenbach's Grand Duchess Selections from an 1880s Carl Fischer publication.

The second half consisted entirely of Burkhart's original music for brass quintet, including selections from the Premiere Brass Quintet's new compact disc, "Watercolor Menagerie". The antiphonal Fanfare on Llanfair opened the second half, and the musical palindrome Toot was performed twice, just to prove it is indeed the same played forwards or backwards. Other selections included Sophie's Waltz and the three-movement suite Italian Postcards, along with such sacred works as Psalm 23 and Come Unto Me. The standing ovation was rewarded by a performance of a jazz-rock work, The Y2K Bug Blues, which featured solos by Burkhart, hornist Durnin, and trombonist Marsteller. These three are also the principal players of their respective sections in the Festival orchestra. Burkhart provided a pithy running commentary which educated and entertained the audience and set each work in context.

Links:
Sierra Summer Festival
Watercolor Menagerie CD
Ray Burkhart's personal page