MEDIA CONTACT:
Sam Smith
Director of Communications
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
[email protected]
415.503.6265
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cathy Partlow Strauss
Director of Conservatory Communications
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
[email protected]
440-775-8328 - office
440-315-6346 - mobile
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jessica Anderson
Associate Director of Communications
Green Music Center
[email protected]
707-664-4122
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2014
ANNOUNCING THE NATIONAL BRASS ENSEMBLE PROJECT
San Francisco Conservatory of Music,
Oberlin Conservatory of Music,
and
Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center
Proudly Announce Launch
of
The National Brass Ensemble Project
and Introduce
The National Brass Ensemble
June 9 - 14, 2014 Inaugural Residency in San Francisco Bay Area
of Country’s Foremost Orchestra Brass Players
Includes
Special June 12, 2014 Concert
Inspired by
Grammy Award-winning Recording, The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli
And Featuring
World Premiere Commission by Renowned Composer John Williams
Plus
Recording of Gabrieli’s Sacrae symphoniae and Williams Commission
at Skywalker Sound for Commercial Release
San Francisco, CA - San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), Oberlin Conservatory of Music
and Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center today announced The National Brass Ensemble
Project, a partnership formed to present a newly created group, the National Brass Ensemble, in a weeklong residency taking place June 9 - 14, 2014 in Rohnert Park and San Rafael, California. The Ensemble,
a singular collection of musicians from across the United States, features 24 leading brass players and two
percussionists from the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland, Detroit Symphony, Los
Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and San Francisco Symphony orchestras.
Generously supported by Oberlin College alumnus Dr. Joseph Markoff ’65, The National Brass
Ensemble Project will be an annual San Francisco Bay Area residency that in future years will combine
teaching and performances by the nation’s foremost brass players.
The highlight of the inaugural residency is a June 12, 2014 public performance at the Green Music
Center’s Weill Hall inspired by the Grammy Award-winning recording, The Antiphonal Music of
Gabrieli. (The original recording featured the brass ensembles of the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia
and Cleveland orchestras.) The program includes excerpts from Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli’s
innovative work Sacrae symphoniae (1597), arranged for The National Brass Ensemble by San Francisco
Symphony principal trombonist and SFCM faculty member Tim Higgins, and the world premiere of a
commission by Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning film composer John Williams.
The first edition of The National Brass Ensemble residency will culminate in the recording of a
commercial CD at Skywalker Sound including brass arrangements from Gabrieli’s Sacrae symphoniae
and the recording premiere of the Williams commission.
“A project years in the making, the inaugural concert and recording of the National Brass Ensemble is not
only an extraordinary achievement in its own right but an opportunity both for our students and for the
world beyond to experience brass playing at the very highest level,” said David H. Stull, president of the
San Francisco Conservatory of Music. “I am honored to have these musicians with us, and I look forward
to developing an ongoing relationship with the National Brass Ensemble in an annual residency offering
outstanding brass instruction and world-class performances in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
Andrea Kalyn, dean of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, said, “The Gabrieli project embodies high
artistry, vision and creative collaboration, and so models in a tremendously powerful way the very
qualities we seek to instill in our students. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Joseph Markoff (Oberlin class of
1965) for making this endeavor possible. We also want to thank composer John Williams for contributing
a world premiere composition to celebrate the birth of this new ensemble. It is a privilege to work with
the National Brass Ensemble, the San Francisco Conservatory and the Green Music Center on this truly
remarkable undertaking.”
“We are delighted to welcome a project of this caliber to our campus,” said Zarin Mehta, co-executive
director of the Green Music Center. “This residency marks a fantastic unity of our new performing arts
center with two institutions I hold in the highest regard – the San Francisco Conservatory and Oberlin
Conservatory of Music. I look forward to witnessing the artistry that emanates from this exceptional
collaboration.”
Among the distinguished artists in the National Brass Ensemble are four faculty members of the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music: Timothy Higgins, trombone, Mark J. Inouye, trumpet, and Oberlin
Conservatory alumnus Robert Ward (’77), horn—all principal players with the San Francisco
Symphony—and Adam Luftman, principal trumpet with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet orchestras.
The full roster of the National Brass National Brass Ensemble includes (in alphabetical order): Joseph
Alessi, principal trombone, New York Philharmonic; David Bilger, principal trumpet, The Philadelphia
Orchestra; Jeffrey Curnow, associate principal trumpet, The Philadelphia Orchestra; Marc Damoulakis,
principal percussion, The Cleveland Orchestra; Nitzan Haroz, principal trombone, Los Angeles
Philharmonic; Randall Hawes, bass trombone, Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Tim Higgins, principal
trombone, San Francisco Symphony and SFCM faculty; Thomas Hooten, principal trumpet, Los Angeles
Philharmonic; Mark J. Inouye, principal trumpet, San Francisco Symphony and SFCM faculty; Richard
King, principal horn, The Cleveland Orchestra; Massimo La Rosa, principal trombone, The Cleveland
Orchestra; Adam Luftman, principal trumpet, San Francisco Opera and Ballet orchestras and SFCM
faculty; James Markey, bass trombone, Boston Symphony Orchestra; Chris Martin, principal trumpet,
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Michael Martin, trumpet, Boston Symphony Orchestra; Jennifer
Montone, principal horn, The Philadelphia Orchestra; Michael Mulcahy, trombone, Chicago Symphony
Orchestra; Gene Pokorny, principal tuba; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Rolfs, principal
trumpet, Boston Symphony Orchestra; Mike W. Roylance, principal tuba, Boston Symphony Orchestra;
Michael Sachs, principal trumpet, The Cleveland Orchestra; James Sommerville, principal horn, Boston
Symphony Orchestra; Yasuhito Sugiyama, principal tuba, The Cleveland Orchestra; Robert Ward
(Oberlin ’77), principal horn, San Francisco Symphony and SFCM faculty; Gail Williams, former
associate principal horn, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Paul Yancich, principal timpani, The Cleveland
Orchestra.
– ### –
Calendar Editors Please Note:
National Brass Ensemble
Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 7:30 PM
Weill Hall, Green Music Center
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park, CA 94928
PROGRAM
Selections from Giovanni Gabrieli’s Sacrae symphoniae (1597)
John Williams world premiere commission
Tickets from $45.
By phone: 866.955.6040
Purchase Tickets online
About Giovanni Gabrieli
An influential Venetian composer who straddled the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods, Giovanni
Gabrieli (1554/1557-1612) wrote music for vocal and instrumental ensembles of the illustrious Saint Mark’s
Basilica, succeeding his uncle Andrea Gabrieli as the church’s principal organist and composer. Inspired by the
acoustical properties of a vast building with facing choir lofts, Gabrieli perfected a split choir or “antiphonal”
style of composition for alternating groups of performers.
The original 1968 recording that inspired this project, The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli, (Sony Classical)
showcased the brass ensembles of the Chicago Symphony and the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras as
well as the Boston Brass Ensemble with conductor Richard Burgin and organist E. Power Biggs. Winner of a
Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance in 1970, it has been long admired as a definitive
modern rendition of Giovanni Gabrieli’s music.
About John Williams
One of the most popular and successful American composers of the modern age, John Williams is the winner
of five Academy Awards, 21 Grammys, four Golden Globes, four Emmys and seven BAFTA Awards from the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts. With 49 Oscar nominations to date, Williams is the most
nominated living person and the second-most nominated person in Academy history. Best known for his film
scores and ceremonial music, Williams is also a noted conductor and acclaimed composer of concert works,
including two symphonies and numerous concerti and chamber works. Williams has composed the music and
served as music director for more than 100 films, including Schindler's List, Lincoln, Saving Private Ryan,
Jaws, E.T. The Extra-terrestrial, all of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, the first three Harry Potter
films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Superman, Far and Away, JFK, Hook,
Amistad, Seven Years in Tibet, The Book Thief, The Lost World, Rosewood, Sleepers, Nixon, Sabrina,
Presumed Innocent, Always, Born on the Fourth of July, The Accidental Tourist, Empire of the Sun, The
Witches of Eastwick and Goodbye Mr. Chips.
About the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Founded in 1917, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music is the oldest conservatory in the American West
and has earned an international reputation for producing musicians of the highest caliber. Notable alumni
include Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Jeffrey Kahane, Aaron Jay Kernis and Warren Jones, among others. The
Conservatory offers its approximately 400 collegiate students fully accredited bachelor’s and master’s degree
programs in composition and instrumental and vocal performance. Its Pre-College Division provides
exceptionally high standards of musical excellence and personal attention to more than 580 younger students.
The Conservatory’s faculty and students give nearly 500 public performances each year, most of which are
offered to the public at no charge. Its community outreach programs serve over 1,600 school children and over
11,000 members of the wider community who are otherwise unable to hear live performances. The
Conservatory’s Civic Center facility is an architectural and acoustical masterwork, and the Caroline H. Hume
Concert Hall was lauded by The New York Times as the “most enticing classical-music setting” in the San
Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.sfcm.edu.
About the Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a National Medal of Arts recipient, is recognized as one of the foremost
professional training institutions in the world. Praised as a “national treasure” by the Washington Post, the
conservatory is situated amid the intellectual vitality of Oberlin College creating an unparalleled learning
environment. As the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States, Oberlin is renowned for
its success in generating exceptional artists who have attained international stature. Oberlin’s alumni enjoy
illustrious careers in all aspects of the music world. They have achieved prominence as solo performers;
chamber, orchestral, and jazz musicians; composers; conductors; and music educators, scholars, and
administrators -- among them Denyce Graves, Christopher Rouse, David Zinman, Dorothy Delay, Steven
Isserlis, Jennifer Koh, Claire Chase, Jeremy Denk, Robert Spano, and founding members of eighth blackbird,
Miro Quartet, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Graduates of Oberlin include a multitude of
Grammy Award winners, two Pulitzer Prize recipients, and two MacArthur "genius award" Fellows. For more
information visit www.oberlin.edu/con.
About Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center
Sonoma State University (SSU) is located in California's premier wine country, one hour north of San
Francisco. Nestled at the base of the idyllic Sonoma Mountains, the college is home to the Green Music
Center (GMC), including its spectacular 1400-seat centerpiece venue, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, which
was modeled closely after the iconic Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood and designed to offer exceptional
acoustics, with picturesque views of the surrounding countryside and a modular rear wall that opens to terraced
lawn seating. The GMC presents year-round programming of top classical, contemporary, jazz, and world
music artists through the MasterCard Performance Series and is home to the Santa Rosa Symphony, in
addition to hosting year-round concerts by the San Francisco Symphony and providing an annual residency for
young professional musicians in partnership with Carnegie Hall.