Empire Brass is a
brass quintet
A brass quintet is a five-piece musical ensemble composed of Brass instrument, brass instruments. The instrumentation for a brass quintet typically includes two Trumpet, trumpets or Cornet, cornets, one French horn, one trombone or euphonium/barito ...
from the United States. The group was founded in 1971. The original members met at
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
(in
Lenox,
) in 1970.
Description and history
The quintet chose its name after performing in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
(New York is the
Empire State
The Empire State is a nickname for the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, adopted in the 1800s. It has been incorporated into the names of several state buildings and events.
The source of the nickname is unknown and has puzzled many his ...
.) They continue to tour regularly in North America, Europe, and Asia. They have been the Faculty Quintet-in-Residence at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
since 1976.
The Empire Brass have appeared on ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'', ''
Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
'' and ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...
''. They also make joint concert appearances with organist
Douglas Major.
Members
As of May 2015, its members include:
* Derek Lockhart,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
* Eric Berlin, trumpet
* Victor Sungarian,
French horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
* Greg Spiridopoulos,
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
*
Kenneth Amis
Kenneth Amis (born 1970) is a Bermudian tuba player best known for his association with the Empire Brass. He is also the assistant conductor of the MIT Wind Ensemble, a group he has been involved with since its creation in 1999. In addition, ...
,
tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...
Previous members include:
*
Rolf Smedvig, trumpet, founder; died April 27, 2015
*
Sam Pilafian
James Samuel Pilafian (October 25, 1949 – April 5, 2019) was an American tuba player and educator.
Biography
Pilafian participated in the National Music Camp in Interlochen, MI and was the second tuba player to win the concerto competition. ...
, tuba, founder; died April 5, 2019.
Discography
A Bach FestivalBaroque Music for Brass and OrganGreatest HitsGlory of Gabrieli
* ttp://www.empirebrass.com/cd-html/passage.html Passagebr>King's Court and Celtic Fair
*Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
*The Empire Brass Plays Annie
*Empire Brass Quintet (Hovhaness, Hindemith, Bohme, Dvorak)
*Christmas with the Master Chorale & Empire Brass
*Pachelbel:Kanon & Other Baroque Favorites
References
External links
Official website
Brass quintets
American brass bands
Musical groups established in 1972
1972 establishments in Massachusetts
{{Classical-ensemble-stub