6/12 - Later this year, dynamic period instrument ensemble Spiritato! will be making the world-premiere recording of Daniel Purcell's The Judgment of Paris (1701) for the Resonus Classics label. As individuals the members of the group can be found working with many of the finest period-instrument orchestras in the world, but together they share a passion for music from the Restoration. The work is an exciting combination of Purcellian harmonies and virtuosic Italianate vocal forms. The opera, featuring the trumpet throughout, is a unique window into English music at the beginning of the 18th century.

Spiritato! are being supported in this unique project by public donations and are giving away fanfares, CDs and downloads to everyone who contributes. Even the smallest donation can make a big difference so to find out more about the group and Daniel Purcell's forgotten masterpiece please visit http://www.sponsume.com/project/judgment-paris.

6/5 - Anneke Scott will be teaching one-week natural and modern horn courses at Malvern College in the UK from 3rd - 10th August 2013. For further information see: http://www.cuillinsoundmusic.co.uk/CuillinSound/Malvern_Summer_Course.html

5/25 - Two of the finest trumpeters in the world, Friedemann Immer from Germany and John Foster from Australia, will be traveling to the United States to accompany Don Johnson of the Kentucky Baroque Trumpets in a concert held at St. Augustine Church in Lebanon, Kentucky on Saturday, 8 June at 7 pm. KBT will also be hosting a master class at Centre Square on Friday, 7 June at 7 pm. Anyone that can play a brass instrument is invited to come to the rehearsal and would be allowed to perform the selected piece of music at the concert the following day. Following the concert on Saturday night, the general public is invited to attend a reception at the Marion County Heritage Center, the old courthouse in downtown Lebanon on Main Street. The Marion County Heritage Center is home to Don’s collection of Civil War and J.W. Pepper instruments, light refreshments will be served.
For further information visit http://kybaroquetrumpets.com/

5/23 - The 2013 Early Brass Festival is just around the corner. Here is the link to the registration form: EBFForm2013.doc.

5/6 - On July 13 the period-instrument virtuosos of the American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy (July 12-21, San Francisco) will perform Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber's gigantic Missa Salisburgensis. Performed only a handful of times since its 1682 premiere in Salzburg Cathedral, this choral extravaganza for nine different groups of instruments is massive, beautiful, and sure to be an extraordinary musical event! At 53 parts plus continuo it is probably the largest-scaled surviving work from the Baroque period. There is an especially heavy contingent of baroque trumpet players involved.

4/30 - The English Brass Academy is offering high quality music training for students, aged 8 -18, this August. For information click here to go to their website. Based at the magnificent Shrewsbury School & Beechwood Park School, the week-long courses promise to be great fun as well as educational and culminate in a concert for family and friends on the Friday afternoon.

BRASS WORKS Course
Brass Works is for all young brass players from beginner to grade 8 and the course contains small and large ensemble work; creative composition workshops, performance preparation and organised sports.

BRASS ELITE Course
Brass Elite is for advanced players (grade 8+) who would like to take their playing to the next level. This course contains masterclasses, chamber music, orchestral excerpts, creative composition workshops, mock auditions, health & well being and early music performance practice.

4/29 - La Cie du Globe has organized conference on the cornet and sacquebout from 15-22 August in Ardèche (France). Bernard Fourtet will be discussing Sacqueboute Serpent and Catherine Escure will be presenting on Cornet à bouquin. The session will coincide with a production of Lully's opera Cadmus et Hermione. For further information, please visit their website: http://www.lacompagnieduglobe.com/site.htm.

 

Sacqueboute - Serpent : Bernard Fourtet
Musicien de la fin du XXe et début du XXI siècles ; ses études de trombone et de musicologie le conduisirent à des activités professionnelles multiples d’instrumentiste (La Fenice, Ohimè, les Saqueboutiers, Hesperion XXI, Gabrieli consort and players, Amsterdam baroque orchestra, etc...), de directeur d’écoles de musique et d’enseignant au conservatoire de Toulouse, en stages et en collèges. Spécialisé en saqueboute, serpent, ophicléide, pour les répertoires sur instruments anciens, il fut professeur de ces disciplines au Département de Musique Ancienne du CRR de Toulouse à partir de 1994. L’un des «redécouvreurs» du Serpent à partir de 1984, il fut cofondateur du Trio de serpents «méandre», l’auteur d’une méthode de Serpent (2003), fondateur de l’Adonis et de la Facqoqcaf. 

4/26 - As many of you may already be aware, Adolph “Bud” Herseth, principal trumpet for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 53 years passed away on April 13, 2013. His orchestral playing inspired legions of trumpeters. In addition to his great career as a symphonic performer, he served as a Navy Musician during WWII. RIP Bud Herseth, Trumpeter and Navy Veteran. Click here to read his obituary in the Chicago Tribune.

3/27 - George Butler has sent news about a new tenor sackbut by Lativian maker and trombonist Vairis Nartiss:

First impressions from a tourist friend from England tell me that the bore size is on the large side. Vairis Nartiss wanted to offer something that modern players could pick up and feel comfortable with right away, or something for the modern player to double with. The bell lines up with third position, chrome-nickel inner slides and there is a water key. They are lacquered. The mouthpiece rim is rounded, the cup is a funnel, the backbore is big, and it's gold plated. Apparently the source of manufacturing is wide and  some bits are from China, some from eastern Germany, some from Czech Republic, and some from Latvia. It comes with a nice, light, black-canvas-over-styrofoam case and the price until the end of March is €990.

More info: http://nartiss.lv/en/news/article/lorem-ipsum-dolor-sit-amet

3/15 - David Whitwell's 13-volume History and Literature of the Wind Band and Wind Ensemble is now available in a new second edition.  The individual volumes can be seen and ordered from www.whitwellbooks.com  Also available on this site are his modern editions of early German, Italian and French original compositions and transcriptions for large wind band.

3/12 - Kiri Tollaksenand Greg Ingles will be teaching at the Madison Early Music Festival from July 6 - 12 (http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/lsa/memf/).The ensemble Dark Horse Consort will also be featured on the MEMF concert series.

Once again, the Historic Brass Society is holding its annual Historic Brass Festival in conjunction with the highly successful Vintage Brass Festival in picturesque Northfield, MN, August 1-4, 2013. This will be our third collaboration and we're looking forward to another fine festival with bands of all types from many parts of the United States as well as from Sweden and Austria. 

About 40 minutes south of the Twin Cities with much to see and do in and around Northfield, this is a great place to bring the family for a combined family vacation and conference.

For more details, see the Vintage Brass Festival site. 

... and check out that terrific picture from the 2010 Vintage Band Festival on the VBF home page!  That's Historic Brass Society webmaster, Steve Lundahl, on the right playing the Schreiber baritone.