The busy careers of each member of the Center City Brass Quintet make concerts difficult to schedule, so fans of the CCBQ's numerous recordings look forward to the special occasions when the group convenes to play live! Don't miss this chance to hear the ensemble perform a program which will include standards such as the Ewald Quintet #1, new additions to the repertoire such as the Plog Four Sketches, and CCBQ originals such as Fire Dance and selections from Leonard Bernstein's On The Town.

Blessed Sacrament Cathedral is located at 300 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA 15601. For maore information, call the Cathedral at 724-834-3710, or visit: http://www.blessedsacramentcathedral.org/musicseries.htm

The CCBQ has two upcoming performances in November 2006. Please check the links below for more information or to buy tickets!
Both concerts will feature this program:

DiLorenzo Fire Dance
Ewald Quintet #1
Plog Four Sketches
Dahl Intermezzo from Music for Brass Instruments
Gershwin/Gale Suite from Porgy and Bess
Bernstein/DiLorenzo Selections from On The Town

On Sunday, November 5, the CCBQ will perform in Oak Ridge, Tennessee as part of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association Concert Series.
The concert will take place at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge at 3PM.
For more information, visit orcma.org/chamb2.shtml

On Sunday, November 12, the CCBQ will perform in Eugene, Oregon as part of the University of Oregon's Chamber Music Series.
The concert will take place at Beall Concert Hall at 3PM. For more information, visit
music.uoregon.edu/CMS/index.html

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CCBQ Performs World-Premiere Concerto in Tokyo

The Center City Brass Quintet traveled to Tokyo to perform the World-Premiere of a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra on July 15, 2006. Particularly exciting for the Quintet was that the new piece - which was commissioned by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra - was composed by its very own Anthony DiLorenzo. DiLorenzo, trumpeter and founding member of the CCBQ, is also a well-known composer whose works are heard regularly on the major television networks and in motion pictures, and have been performed by major ensembles such as the San Francisco, Colorado and Utah symphony orchestras. The performance was with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its Resident Conductor, Naoto Otomo, in the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, a modern concert hall seating 2,000 in which the Tokyo Symphony has a regular concert series. The 18-minute work - titled Chimera - is in three movements, and utilizes an orchestra comprising full string, woodwind and percussion sections, and a reduced brass section. The brass quintet soloists performed at the front of the stage, spanning both sides of the podium. The piece was greeted with enthusiasm by the near-capacity crowd, which demanded numerous curtain-calls and an encore. The Quintet obliged with a performance of Fire
Dance, also by DiLorenzo.

DiLorenzo, who has composed and arranged numerous works for the CCBQ over the years - many of which the Quintet has recorded on the Chandos label - explains why this was a particularly special project for him: " There are very few concertos for brass quintet and orchestra, and I was so excited not only to have the opportunity to help fill that void, but also to write a piece that took advantage of the playing and personalities of my colleagues in the CCBQ whom I have known and worked with for so many years. And it was great that this premiere was with a major orchestra in one of the world's capitals."

The commission came about at the urging of Maestro Otomo, who has known the Quintet since 2001 when it participated in the inaugural Music Masters Course in Kazusa (MMCK), a summer festival which he co-founded with Alan Gilbert, Music Director of the Stockholm Philharmonic. The educational festival attracts conservatory students from Japan, Europe and the U.S., who come to study with the CCBQ and other prominent faculty from around the world. Members of the Quintet have returned each summer since to participate in the festival.

Also especially noteworthy about the concert was the attendance in the audience of former Prime Minister of Japan, Hata Tsutomu, who traveled to Tokyo with his wife especially to hear the concerto, having heard a
performance of another DiLorenzo piece earlier this summer at the MMCK festival. The esteemed guest came backstage afterwards to congratulate DiLorenzo and the Quintet on its performance.

The five members of the quintet had a great week in Tokyo. They enjoyed the hospitality of Maestro Otomo and his wife, Youmi, who hosted them for dinner each night at fabulous restaurants around the city. They also enjoyed visiting with old friends and students from past year's sessions of the MMCK festival, as well making friends with their new colleagues in the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. The CCBQ was very impressed with the TSO's performance of the Rite of Spring which followed intermission of the concert, and they wish to thank the TSO musicians for their excellent effort in the performance of Chimera.

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CENTER CITY BRASS QUINTET TO PREMIERE CONCERTO IN JAPAN

The concerto commission was initiated by Maestro Naoto Otomo, who holds the position of Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Symphony. Maestro Otomo is a long-time friend and supporter of the CCBQ, stemming from the CCBQ’s involvement at the Music Masters Course in Kazusa (MMCK) Festival. The Quintet was chosen to develop a brass program for the inaugural MMCK season in 2001. Each year since, members of the CCBQ have been involved in the annual festival, performing in recital, and teaching and coaching brass students from around the world who come to Kazusa for a unique musical and multi-cultural experience. The festival was developed by Naoto Otomo and Alan Gilbert, Music Director of the Stockholm Philharmonic.

Maestro Otomo has been an enthusiastic supporter of the CCBQ ever since, and arranged for the quintet to perform featured recitals in 2003 in Kyoto (where he is Music Director of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra) and in Tokyo, in a recital which was broadcast nationally on the radio. He has also been taken by Anthony DiLorenzo’s composition skills, and conceived of a concerto written by Anthony, which he would conduct with his own orchestra. The CCBQ is grateful to Naoto Otomo for this wonderful opportunity!

Likewise, the Quintet is exited about the opportunity for Anthony to continue his development as a composer in this major international venue. Anthony’s music for brass quintet and brass ensemble is well-known world-wide, as a result of the many pieces which have been recorded by the CCBQ, the Burning River Brass Ensemble, and Proteus 7. His composition Fire Dance has become a classic in its own time, and is available for purchase on this web site.

Stay tuned for more about the concerto performance after the quintet returns to the States later this summer!

http://www.tokyosymphony.com/top-E.html (link to Tokyo Symphony website with CCBQ concert listing)

http://www.geigeki.jp/english/hall.html (link to Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space concert hall)

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CCBQ PRESENTS MASTER CLASSES, LOS ANGELES RECITAL

The Center City Brass Quintet recently engaged in a busy week of master
classes and recitals in Ohio and California. On February 24, the quintet
presented classes at the University of Akron and at Cleveland State
University. On February 26, the Quintet performed two sold-out performances
for the DaCamera Chamber Music Society at the Bradbury Building in downtown
Los Angeles as part of the "Music In Historic Places" concert series.

The Bradbury Building, a National Historic Landmark, turned out to be one of
the most unusual venues the Quintet has ever performed in. Five stories
tall, with an open interior courtyard and glass atrium surrounded by iron
grill work and cage elevators, the building has been used in many motion
pictures, including "Blade Runner". The acoustics, although live, proved to
be warm and exciting. The audience surrounded the Quintet at all times,
sitting on three levels, observing the Quintet as it performed from many
different locations during the course of the performance. The Quintet played
a wide variety of works by DiLorenzo, Ewald, Gabrieli, D'Rivera, Dahl,
Crespo, Bernstein and Ellington.

On February 27, the Quintet presented a workshop at the Los Angeles County
High School for the Performing Arts, on the campus of CSU Los Angeles, in a
class sponsored in part by the Conn-Selmer company.

Next stop, Tokyo.details soon!

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CENTER CITY BRASS QUINTET ENTERS THE TWILIGHT ZONE

On Sunday, February 26, the Center City Brass Quintet will perform two concerts in Los Angeles. The concerts will take place in the Bradbury Building, made famous by its appearances in many Hollywood movies and television shows, including Blade Runner and the Twilight Zone.

The Bradbury Building, on South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles was designed by the architect George H. Wyman and built in 1893. Despite being over 100 years old, it still has a futuristic look, due to its 5 story interior open court, surrounded by balconies and open elevators decorated by ornate metal sculpture. The landmark building was chosen as a concert venue for the Chamber Music in Historic Sites series which is sponsored by the DaCamera Society.

The CCBQ will perform two (identical) concerts without intermission, at 2:00 and 3:30. The program features many CCBQ standards, such as Anthony DiLorenzo’s Fire Dance, Ewald Quintet #1, Selections from Bernstein’s On The Town and West Side Story, as well as music of Paquito D’Rivera and Enrique Crespo.

Don’t miss this chance to hear the CCBQ live in concert in Los Angeles, on Sunday February 26! For more information, go to www.dacamera.org/events/feb26.html

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The Center City Brass Quintet’s latest CD release on the Chandos label is actually a re-release of its second album: STREET SONG. This recording was called “chamber brass playing at its best!” by the International Trumpet Guild Journal, and is a recording of original compositions written by major American composers for brass quintet. But don’t be frightened! The composers are Leonard Bernstein (his hilariously witty Dance Suite), Andre Previn (his heavily jazz-influenced Four Outing for Brass), Eric Ewazen (one of the most prolific composers of brass music, represented here by his Colchester Fantasy, a musical representation of four British Pubs), and Michael Tilson Thomas (one of the “hottest” American musicians on the classical scene, whose Street Song is heard here in the only recording of the complete published version).

The album opens with the premiere recording of Anthony DiLorenzo’s Fire Dance, the furiously exciting original composition by CCBQ’s trumpeter and unofficial composer-in-residence. Sheet music for Fire Dance is now finally available for purchase.

Click HERE to order your own copy of the Fire Dance

Click HERE to order the STREET SONG CD

Check out the great review of CCBQ’s STREET SONG CD in the January issue of Gramophone magazine!

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Hear the Center City Brass Quintet live on Sunday, November 14 when they perform on the “Music from the Western Reserve” concert series in the Chapel at the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, OH. The performance begins at 5PM and admission to the one-hour concert is $15 for adults, $5 for students. For information on tickets and directions, call 330.650.9714

The CCBQ has planned a sampler of some of their favorite pieces, many of which can be heard on their many recordings on the Chandos label. A highlight of the program will be a performance of the complete Boehme sextet, which the Quintet recently recorded on its highly acclaimed "Romantic Music for Brass" CD. The Quintet will perform the version of the Boehme which adds an extra trumpet to the standard brass quintet instrumentation. As on their recording, the CCBQ will be joined by Jack Sutte, second trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Also on the program will be works of J.S. Bach and Claude Debussy transcribed for brass quintet, selections from “Colchester Fantasy” by Eric Ewazen, and Anthony DiLorenzo’s sensational arrangements of songs from Leonard Bernstein’s "On The Town". It is sure to be a terrific concert!

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The Center City Brass Quintet will return to Japan in June, as a resident ensemble at the Music Masters Course in Kazusa (MMCK). The Quintet first participated in this festival in 2001, at the invitation of Maestros Alan Gilbert (Music Director of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic), and Naoto Otomo (Music Director of the Kyoto Symphony), who are the festival's co-founders.

As in the past, the CCBQ will join an international faculty, coaching, conducting, and instructing college-age brass students from around the globe (typically Japan, the U.S., Europe and Australia). Students at the MMCK festival participate in chamber music, orchestra and master classes, culminating in a final concert performance at the famous Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Classes and rehearsals take place at the Akademia Park campus in the Chiba prefecture. Other faculty include musicians from the Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra (U.S.), Paris Opera, and NHK Symphony (Japan). For more information on MMCK, visit its website: www.music-masters.co.jp/mmck_e/

CCBQ to perform concert in Tokyo

While in Japan for the MMCK festival, the CCBQ will perform a full program in Tokyo at the Tokyo FM Concert Hall, on Friday June 18, at 7PM. Tokyo FM is the largest (primarily popular music) radio station in Japan, which also airs several hours of classical music weekly. The quintet will perform for a live audience in a concert that will be taped for later broadcast.

The CCBQ will also perform in Kazusa, throughout the MMCK schedule, including a repeat performance of their Tokyo program on Sunday June 20 at 4PM.

The program for these concerts includes:

Malcolm Arnold "Quintet"

Felix Mendelssohn/Reynolds "Opus 4 Quartet"

Paquito D'Rivera "Four Pieces for Brass Quintet"

Morley Calvert "Suite from the Monteregian Hills"

John Stevens "Seasons"

Leonard Bernstein/Gale "Selections from West Side Story"

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The CCBQ's 5th recording is released by Chandos Records in January 2004 (U.S. street-date is February 24). "Romantic Music for Brass" contains two major works for brass from the Romantic era: Viktor Ewald's Quintet #3, and the Oskar Boehme Sextet. In addition, the album is led off with the premiere recording of a version of Mendelssohn's String Quartet #1 as arranged by Verne Reynolds.

Reynolds, for decades the Horn Professor at the Eastman School of Music, is also a prolific composer and arranger, primarily of music for brass instruments. His arrangement of the first string quartet of Felix Mendelssohn is one of the most demanding pieces the CCBQ has played, both technically and musically. The work, by the quintessential Romantic-era composer, also turned out to be a perfect compliment to the Ewald Quintet #3, a piece the CCBQ has wanted to record for many years.

Full of lyrical melody and lush harmonies, the 3rd quintet of Viktor Ewald has long been a favorite of the Quintet. The first work the CCBQ ever performed, it is also one of the pieces it played in competition at Coleman and Carmel in 1988.

The album is rounded out with another mainstay of the brass chamber music repertoire, the Oskar Boehme sextet. The CCBQ performs the version with two trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba, and solo cornet, played by Geoffrey Hardcastle. The Quintet was happy to welcome Jack Sutte, second trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra, to fill out their ranks for this piece.

CCBQ is excited to announce that Chandos has released this new recording in the new Super Audio (SACD) format, as well as in the regular CD format. Super Audio technology was invented by Sony and Philips, and utilizes Direct Steam Digital encoding to deliver a frequency response 5 times greater than a regular CD. The dynamic range of SACD is 120dB, compared to 96 dB for regular CD. And, SACD allows for multi channel surround sound. You can play the SACD in a regular CD player, but will only experience the extra sonic information if you have a special SACD player. For most of you who do not yet have the new technology, you can purchase the Romantic Music for Brass album as a regular CD.

For more information about SACD technology, visit www.superaudio-cd.com.

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CCBQ GARNERS RAVE REVIEW IN GRAMOPHONE
The Center City Brass Quintet was featured in a recent article on brass recordings in the the May issue of Gramophone magazine. The article reviewed the CCBQ's most recent release on the Chandos label (Romantic Music for Brass/Chandos 10140).
In part, the review reads:
"In Romantic Music for Brass, the Center City Brass Quintet is an exquisitely blended, focused ensemble who render these works with much aplomb and facility. To cap it, they begin with Verne Reynolds' skilful arrangement of Mendelssohn's youthful opus 12 Quartet. In surround-sound, this is an immaculate feast of soaring music in a refreshing and unlikely idiom."
Gramophone is one of the most respected classical music periodicals, which is published in England for a world-wide readership. For more information on Gramophone, www.gramophone.co.uk

The Center City Brass Quintet will be in Conway, Arkansas for a special 3-day residency at the University of Central Arkansas, March 31-April 2, 2004. The Quintet will work with brass students at UCA in a variety of workshops, master classes and rehearsals. The intensive educational program will focus on ensemble playing, as well as solo and orchestral repertoire. At the conclusion of the residency, the CCBQ will perform a full recital on Friday April 2, at 7:30PM at the UCA School of Music. Admission is FREE! For more information, please contact Brent Shires, Horn Instructor at University of Central Arkansas at (501) 450-5768, or by e-mail at bshires@uca.edu.

For the UCA residency and recital, the CCBQ will be joined by Ryan Anthony, trumpeter and former member of the Quintet. (Ryan will be filling in for Geoffrey Hardcastle who is on a temporary leave). Ryan was trumpeter with the CCBQ for many years, after which he joined the Canadian Brass, with which he played for two years. He now resides in Memphis, and is filling his schedule performing with a variety of ensembles, and as a soloist.

In addition, CCBQ hornist Richard King will be special guest clinician and soloist at the Mid-South Horn Workshop, also hosted by Brent Shires and the University of Central Arkansas. As part of the workshop, Richard will perform a solo recital on Saturday, April 3 in the evening. For more information, check out the Mid-South Horn Workshop web site: www.arkansashorn.org/midsouth.

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The CCBQ will present a master class for brass students at Rowan University in Glasboro, NJ (30 minutes from Philadelphia), on Saturday, November 8 at 2PM. The public is welcome to attend. Check this site for more information soon.

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MASTER CLASSES
in South Jersey - November 8 and 10, 2003

On Saturday, November 8, the CCBQ will present an educational master class at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ (about 30 minutes from Philadelphia). The class will begin at 2PM and run until 5PM, during which the quintet will play, demonstrate and discuss ensemble techniques, hear a Rowan U. student quintet, and conduct separate workshops for trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba. The public is welcome to attend as observers, free of charge. The class will begin in Wilson Hall at the main campus of Rowan University. For information and directions to Rowan University, go to www.rowan.edu. For information about the master class, contact Bryan Appleby-Wineberg, Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Brass at appleby-wineberg@rowan.edu, or 856.256.4500 x3526.

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CCBQ MUSICIANS RETURN TO JAPAN - June 2003

CCBQ musicians Anthony DiLorenzo, Geoffrey Hardcastle, and Craig Knox
returned to Japan in June for performances in Tokyo and Kyoto and a
week-long residency at the Music Masters Course in Kazusa (MMCK). The entire
CCBQ was on faculty at the inaugural MMCK festival in 2001; this year, CCBQ
members Richard King and Steven Witser were unable to attend, so the other
three were joined by special guest artists Karl Pituch (Principal Horn of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra), and Mark Hetzler (trombonist of the Empire
Brass).

Founded in 2001 by Maestros Alan Gilbert (Music Director of the Royal
Stockholm Philharmonic) and Naoto Otomo (Music Director of the Kyoto
Symphony), the MMCK festival creates a unique forum for musical and cultural
exchange. This year's student body comprised 14 nationalities, and was
matched by an equally international faculty; in addition to the CCBQ, the
MMCK faculty was drawn from members of the Vienna Philharmonic,
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Lyon, Cincinatti Symphony, St. Louis
Symphony, Madrid Symphony, NHK Symphony (Japan) and others.

While at MMCK, the CCBQ worked with 10 brass students, with daily quintet
coachings, as well as large ensemble rehearsals, performance classes, and
open rehearsals, all part of the program. In addition, the CCBQ presented
numerous recitals at in-house MMCK concerts.

This year, the CCBQ "and friends", performed two special pre-festival
concerts to promote the MMCK. On June 21, the quintet performed in Kyoto at
the Symphony Recital Hall, and on June 22 for a live studio audience at the
Tokyo FM radio hall. Tokyo FM is the largest radio station in Japan, and the
Quintet's performance was taped for later broadcast on the weekly "Music
Bird" program.

"CCBQ with MMCK Professors" recital program for Kyoto and Tokyo:

CCBQ RECORDS 5TH CD

CCBQ recording the Oscar Boehme sextet in November 2002.

Seated (l-r) Anthony DiLorenzo, Jack Sutte, Steve Witser, Craig Knox, Richard King, Geoff Hardcastle

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