137 BRASS BAND OF HUNTSVILLE HIGHLIGHTS ANNUAL CLINIC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 10, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

BRASS BAND OF HUNTSVILLE HIGHLIGHTS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE CLINIC
Nov. 3 Performance Rare Opportunity to See British-Style Brass Band, Says Riordan

(MURFREESBORO)—The fourth annual MTSU Brass Performance Clinic, an all-day event sponsored by MTSU’s music school, will culminate with a free and open concert by The Brass Band of Huntsville (BBH) at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
The performance clinic will be open to all high-school students, grades nine through 12. School music teachers and private instructors are also invited to attend and participate. Participants will attend clinics conducted by MTSU faculty and area professionals, including members of the Nashville Symphony and Nashville recording artists.
In addition, a 1:30 p.m. concert will feature the MTSU Faculty Brass Quintet, the MTSU Symphonic Brass Ensemble and the resident, award-winning student ensemble, the Broad Street Brass.
Regarding the BBH and the final concert, the lineup is a traditional British brass band consisting of 25 members, with conical bored instruments and trombones. The conductor is Joel Mason, a former adjunct tuba professor at MTSU, and one of the euphonium players is Larry Crews, a graduate of MTSU's music program who now teaches in Huntsville, Ala.
“We have never had a British-style brass band here,” said George Riordan, director of the MTSU School of Music. “There is quite a tradition in Britain of these brass bands who have developed their own literature, style of playing and a whole social milieu. It would be very good for our students to see an ensemble that performs in the British manner.”
Founded in April 2001, the BBH is dedicated to musical excellence and the advancement of brass band music and it’s the lone British-style brass band in Alabama. Its members come from many varied professions such as university professors, high-school teachers, engineers, scientists, ministers of music, law enforcement officers and college students.
MTSU brass faculty members Michael Arndt (trumpet) and David Loucky (euphonium) will perform as guest soloists with the BBH on a piece titled Arabesque by Joseph Turrin.
“This is an engaging piece with a delightful mix of flash and dash technique, combined with expressive lyricism,” said Loucky, MTSU professor of trombone, euphonium and low brass. “It is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.”
Both the 1:30 and the 7:30 p.m. concerts are free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other events in the MTSU music school, please call 615-898-2493 or visit www.mtsumusic.com.
For more information on the 2007 Brass Performance Clinic, please visit www.mtsubrass.com/brassfestival. For additional information on the BBH, please access its Web site at brassbandofhuntsville.org.


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