Berlin Philharmonic Brass (Germany)

The Berlin Philharmonic Brass, one of the longest standing ensembles to have emerged from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, was founded in the 1950s. With 12 virtuoso musicians it brings the distinctive sound and tradition of this great orchestra to its dynamic chamber music performance in Germany and throughout the World.

The concerts of the Berlin Philharmonic Brass are a celebration of the diversity of brass music which ranges from traditional work of the baroque and classical eras through to commissions by leading contemporary composers and entertaining arrangements of jazz and other well known popular pieces.

The rapport of the of the 12 musicians, communicated to the audience in performances of spontaneity and passion, is without doubt enhanced by their experience playing together as members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
More HERE

Think Music Heals?

Trombone Player Begs To Differ

by Diane Orson

Each day, thousands of music students head to band practice with their trumpets, trombones and saxophones. But they may want to pay a bit more attention to the way they clean out their instruments when rehearsal is over. One musician in Connecticut learned the hard way about the dangers of not cleaning his horn — after he developed a condition that's being called "trombone players' lung."

"I coughed. I had a horrible deep barking cough — especially when I played trombone," Scott Bean says.  It turned out that his trombone, or what was inside it, was making him sick.

Diane Orson For NPR

Scott Bean spends hours each day performing, practicing and teaching the trombone. But for years, Bean struggled with health problems that made it hard to play his instrument.
"I coughed. I had a horrible deep barking cough — especially when I played trombone. I had a sore throat, lost 60 pounds at a time, had a low-grade fever," he says. "It was a huge hindrance."
The Stuff Inside
Doctors thought Bean had asthma, but none of the usual therapies worked. After 15 years, Bean went on vacation for the first time without his trombone — and felt better. He began to wonder if the instrument could be making him sick.
A doctor at the University of Connecticut took a culture from inside his horn.
"Then he calls me up and says, 'Scott, we know what's in your trombone,'"

Read more HERE

Tine Thing Helseth (Norway)

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Helseth started to play trumpet at the age of 7 and studies at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo.

Born in 1987, Tine belongs to a new generation of Norwegian soloists and indeed a new generation of brass soloists all together, perhaps more influenced by the idiom of string players and singers than what used to be the case. Tine’s approach to music is refreshingly focused and straightforward, with an extra touch of artistic magic that reaches everyone who hears her playing.

Tine Thing Helseth is already one of the leading trumpet soloists of her generation. Already in her short career Helseth has appeared as a soloist with, amongst others, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Philharmonie Baden-Baden, all the major Norwegian orchestras and further afield with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

More about Tine HERE

Bay Colony Brass (USA)

Bay Colony Brass is one of the few large brass ensembles (or brass choirs) of its kind in the United States. Composed of twenty players, the group performs a broad range of repertoire spanning five centuries of brass and orchestral music, vocal music, Broadway shows, and even the occasional pop song. They play three sets of concerts a year plus two Christmas programs at various sites in the Boston area. Bay Colony Brass is a volunteer organization and registered 501c3 nonprofit in Massachusetts.

Channing Yu, Music Director

American orchestra and opera conductor Channing Yu begins his first season as Music Director and Conductor of Bay Colony Brass. He is also Music Director of the Mercury Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the national winner of the 2010 American Prize in Orchestral Conducting in the community orchestra division.
 
He has previously served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Lowell House Opera, the oldest opera company in New England, where he conducted over thirty fully staged performances with orchestra, including Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Puccini’s Turandot, Verdi’s Otello, and Puccini’s Tosca. For his musical direction of Tosca, he was awarded second prize in the 2011 American Prize in Opera Conducting national competition.

More info HERE