Cascades Brass Quintet

The University of British Columbia School of Music (Vancouver, Canada) has announced that the Cascades Brass Quintet, from the School, won the Coleman-Saunderson Prize for Woodwinds & Brass of the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition held in Pasadena, California April 27th – 30th. The members of the Cascades Brass Quintet are Al Cannon and Malcolm Aiken, trumpets; Micajah Sturgess, horn; François Lévesque, trombone; and Daniel Pain, tuba. The Cascades Brass Quintet competed against fourteen ensembles from Juilliard, Manhattan, Eastman, USC, North Texas, and UCLA among others, placing first among three woodwind quintets, two saxophone quartets and one other brass quintet. The grand prize went to the Attacca String Quartet from Juilliard. More information about the competition and prize-winners may be found at the Coleman Chamber Music Association website linked below.

Founded in 1904 by Alice Coleman (later Alice Coleman Batchelder), the Coleman Chamber Music Association is one of the oldest organizations in the United States dedicated to the presentation, understanding, and enjoyment of chamber music. The Competition began in 1947 as the Coleman Auditions for young, non-professional performers; today's competing ensembles have an average age of less than 26. Many Coleman Competition winners have gone on to become widely acclaimed artists. An abbreviated list of past winners includes Glenn Dicterow; Grant Gershon; Jeffrey Kahane; Anne-Marie McDermott; Paula Robison; Nathaniel Rosen; Morton Subotnick; the Ahn Trio; eighth blackbird; and the Cavani, Colorado, Pacifica, Tokyo, and Vega Quartets. Held annually in late April, the Competition offers an opportunity for young chamber ensembles to perform before an outstanding panel of internationally recognized artists forming the jury to present three prizes totaling $15,500. Previous jury members have included Jascha Heifetz; Natalie Limonick; Mehli Mehta; Gregor Piatigorsky; Artur Rubinstein; Eudice Shapiro; Anrold Steinhardt; Henri Temianka; the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Amadeus, Budapest, Opus One, and Smetana Quartets.

The Cascades Brass Quintet was formed in September of 2002 and performs at various events in and around the Vancouver area. In March 2006, they were the Second Prize Winners of the Vancouver Friends of Chamber Music Competition, competing against three string / piano ensemble finalists. Also in March 2006, they were accepted into the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in Indiana. In May 2006, Cascades recorded for CBC in British Columbia.

Websites:
Cascades Brass Quintet
Coleman Chamber Music Association
University of British Columbia School of Music